Nathan Jones expects a tough test in the Sky Bet Championship this weekend, as his side take a short trip across the Thames to face West Ham United (3pm BST).
The gaffer was delighted with his side's performance last Saturday, as they claimed a 2-1 win over Derby County.
“It was quite an emotional day, the way the game went, it takes a lot out of you,” Jones said.
“I was delighted with the level of performance; there was a lot to be pleased with. We are only on the first part of the journey, we are wanting and trying to evolve.”
“We didn’t change; we didn’t go back to default; we kept doing what we did. We got the two goals, we had impact from the bench, and it was pleasing to see certain people scoring as well, it was a good day.”
A host of new faces have arrived at Sparrows Lane over the summer, with the gaffer expressing his delight at the work done to strengthen the squad during the window.
“We take recruitment seriously, we don’t just look at the athlete and the ability they possess, it’s also the character. They have to be brave to play at The Valley and to play in Southeast London. You have to be brave, there is always a different atmosphere, the demands are always quite high. I think anyone has settled in, we have far greater competition and options than we did last year and I expect that, every window we want to get better, and we have got significantly better this window," he explained.
“I think we have always been a fit team, we have one of the best records in the country at scoring late goals, we pride ourselves off how we train, the intensity that we train and play at. We make sure at the end of a game the athletes that we are bringing on are prepped and they can impact. We are evolving.”
“[Last] Saturday took its toll, but we are still gathering momentum and strength. We have had a good week’s training, a few people got minutes on Tuesday in the U21s game, which was staged here, so we are stronger as a group.”
New signing Timothy Ouma wasn’t involved in last weekend's squad to face Derby, as he continues to get up to speed after joining on loan from Slavia Prague earlier this month.
“Ouma was fine the other day in the U21s. The intensity of a Championship fixture and an U21s fixture are vastly different, he has hardly trained, he had visa issues early on. That wait prolonged us from being able to bring him back over from Kenya, so he has missed a lot of pre-seasons, and we are building him up, it is a work in progress," he said.
Jones expressed how Saturday’s clash with West Ham is going to be a tough test, but it is one his side are ready for.
“It's a wonderful game to test ourselves against a Premier League club really. I know they came down but everything about them is Premier League. The stadium, the crowd, the finances, they have managed to keep the majority of their players and add, so arguably they are as strong as they were last year. It’s a tough fixture.”
“It’s great for the fans, it’s a short journey. We wanted to test ourselves, this is why we want to be in at least in the Championship, games like this and the one on Wednesday [against Spurs] are what whet the appetite.”
“It is a great game for everyone; it’s another Championship game. This is our bread and butter; there are three points at stake, this is a league game and it’s not a cup game where we can giant kill and we are competing in the same league.”
