‘It Was Long Ago’ – Nuno Won’t Give Weight To Past Leeds United Clash | OneFootball

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West Ham United boss Nuno Espirito Santo has dismissed the loss to Leeds United in October as something the Hammers can learn from, claiming that it was ‘long ago’, with both teams having changed ‘a lot’ since then.

The Hammers are set to face the Whites in the FA Cup quarter-final with club football resuming after breaking for internationals.

A 2-1 defeat to Leeds in October, shortly after Nuno’s appointment, had left the Hammers second bottom after their worst start to season in 52 years.

Nuno stressed that his side looks to learn from both positive and negative experiences, as they seek to improve constantly.

He though, rejected the idea that anything could be gleaned from the defeat at Elland Road, arguing that considerable time has passed while both teams have a different look to them now.

Nuno said in a pre-match conference ahead of the Leeds tie (7:30): “It’s been a while [since the 2-1 defeat at Elland Road in October].

“I think both teams have changed a lot.

“We know it’s going to be difficult, but that game is too far away for us to analyse.

“Like I said, both teams have changed a lot.

“So we learn from experiences always, either they are positive or negative is always something that we take on board to try and rectify what we did, what we didn’t do so good there.”

West Ham will face the Whites on Sunday, with Leeds boss Daniel Farke having already confirmed that he is a ‘big believer in the cup competition’ and that he will select a ‘strong starting line-up without doing anything stupid’.

The two clubs are embroiled in a relegation battle along with two of Nuno’s previous clubs, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.

Anton Stach gave credit to Daniel Farke for helping him to win a call-up to the Germany squad and the Leeds midfielder might be one to watch on Sunday.

Nuno has admitted that he has not had much time to follow the Portuguese league of late due to an ‘intense’ relegation battle, and it remains to be seen if he has the conviction to match Farke by fielding a strong lineup.

Leeds might be hungrier, with their last FA Cup semi-final appearance coming in 1987, while the Hammers reached the final as recently as 2006.

Adama Traore had said that he ‘believes in this team and believes in the plan’ to dodge the drop, but the winger will certainly be hoping that it does not come to the final day when the Hammers take on Leeds yet again, as neither club would want FA Cup progression to come at the cost of Premier League survival.