Emiliano Martínez says Aston Villa are in the best mood they’ve been in this season as they head to West Ham looking for a fourth consecutive win on Sunday.
The Argentinian acknowledged the team have had their struggles this campaign but says they’re brimming with confidence after beating Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton and Leeds United in successive matches.
And Martínez is hoping the good times continue when they face the Hammers in east London.
He said: “We’re in the mood. We need to stay calm and humble, but we need to go there thinking that we’re a better team than them.
“They’re a top side fighting for Champions League, so they’ve got a lot to play for but we’re in the best mood we’ve been in this season.
“We know what we’ve been through: we lost five on the spin, we lost our previous manager.
“Now, we need to try and make it five, six wins on the spin just to change that feeling because I know how bad we felt when we lost five on the spin.
“We’ve got the opportunity to make it four on the spin."
Villa’s attacking play has won plaudits for producing nine goals in three games, but the team’s feats at the other end of the pitch have been equally impressive.
Martínez has faced one shot on target in each of the last three games, keeping a clean sheet in all of them, much to the delight to head coach Steven Gerrard.
“He (Gerrard) loves clean sheets. He said to us after the game, ‘I love clean sheets more than Emi does.’ I said, ‘No, that’s not right!’" Martínez joked.
“He’s a winner and the first thing he said after Leeds was, 'let’s make it four on the spin, let’s go and beat West Ham away'.
“He has the winning mentality that we needed. He’s a winner, we respect him and we follow his game plans.”
