West Ham United midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate has said that his team 'need to stay focused and work hard' in a bid to bounce back from Saturday's derby defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham led 3-0 at the London Stadium in the 60th minute, but West Ham scored twice between the 65th and 87th minute to set up a grandstand finish.

However, despite Tottenham being reduced to 10 men following a red card for Serge Aurier, the visitors held on to record a 3-2 victory at the home of their rivals.

Kouyate has claimed that a first-half injury to Michail Antonio harmed West Ham's gameplan, but the 27-year-old, who scored his team's second against Spurs with a thumping header, is keen for the Hammers to move on quickly from the disappointing defeat.

Kouyate told West Ham TV:

“We started the game very well and played very good for 30 minutes but we lost Michail Antonio after that [to injury], then we had five bad minutes and lost two goals in a crucial game.

“Everyone knows they are a very good team and that you can’t make mistakes against Tottenham, but everyone needs to keep their head up and work hard.

“After the first half, we spoke with the manager and players and said ‘Guys, we need to push because we are 2-0 down and we need to give everything’. We gave everything, but the game was very bad for us so we need to stay focused and work hard.”

West Ham, who are currently 18th in the Premier League table, will look to return to winning ways when they host Swansea City next weekend.

https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/var.mp4