West Ham: Graham Potter explains Evan Ferguson and Luis Guilherme substitution decision at Wolves | OneFootball

Hammers duo hooked at half-time in defeat at Molineux

Graham Potter did not hide his disappointment with West Ham’s first-half showing against Wolves after hooking Evan Ferguson and Luis Guilherme at half-time.

West Ham enjoyed periods of possession in the first half but Ferguson missed a good early chance and Wolves went ahead through Jorgen Strand Larsen’s deflected strike.

Potter brought off Ferguson and Guilherme at the break, switching to a back four, and West Ham did improve after the break but could not find an equaliser.

Ferguson struggled at Wolves before being taken off at half-time

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Ferguson is yet to score in six matches since joining on loan from Brighton in January, while Brazilian teenager Guilherme was making his first start since his £25million move to West Ham last summer.

“We weren’t happy with the overall performance in the first half,” said Potter. “We had a good chance to score (through Ferguson), which we didn’t take.

“In the first half, we were pushed back too much so we had to adjust at half-time, which we did and we were a lot better in the second half.”

Niclas Fullkrug came on for Ferguson to make his first appearance in almost three months.

“We were happy for Fullkrug to get 45 minutes,” said Potter. “The more he plays, the better he will get but overall we’re disappointed.

Potter was pleased to have Niclas Fullkrug back after three months out injured

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“We’ve been building him up and he’s been working hard. We’ve had to do some work with him behind closed doors to get him the match time. You can’t replicate the Premier League but credit to him on how he’s been and his ability to influence the game like he did.

“You can see he gives us a different option which we haven’t had. He helps us be more direct and more vertical. I’ve been very impressed with him. His attributes include touch, intelligence and quality around the box. He’s going to help us a lot.”

Jarrod Bowen has called on West Ham not to let their season fizzle out after another disappointing result.

The Hammers are now winless in three games and have little to play for in their remaining eight Premier League games.

But Bowen said: “We don't want to have one of those ends of the season where we just let it fizzle out.

“We still have a lot of football to be played, still a lot of points to be made and that's down to us to do it.”