West Ham United: Mads Hermansson on relegation ‘fear’, lessons from Leicester City and how he returns to Hammers’ No. 1 jersey | West Ham United Football News

“You can see your career is going downhill and you’re about to be relegated. It’s really tough as a team and as a club to be in those feelings and emotions.”

Max Hermansson is reflecting on the pain of Leicester City’s Premier League relegation last season. It’s an experience he doesn’t want to repeat at West Ham United.

The goalkeeper has been open and honest about the pressure and pressure of being at the bottom of the Premier League.

But he said he had learned “a lot” from last season, and after West Ham took their survival hopes into their own hands with a 4-0 win over Wolves, there is now cautious optimism that the team’s “togetherness” can help them avoid the same fate as the Foxes.

“We’ve been doing this for months,” Hermansson said of West Ham’s struggles this season. “We were worried about where we were going and it’s not easy to work in an environment like this. But credit to everyone at the club for keeping spirits high and making us believe we could turn things around.”

West Ham United are out of the relegation zone for the first time in a month after beating Wolves. But it looks like a battle that could go down to the wire, with London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United all far from safe.

Hermansson believes West Ham’s unity is vital if they are to avoid relegation. “Our togetherness, the relationships we have,” he said when asked about the group’s strengths. “Everyone contributes their own personality to the team and we have a lot of great characters here who are willing to give everything for the club.”

Denmark international Hermansson must also show personal resilience this season.

The highly-rated 25-year-old was signed as the Hammers’ first choice last summer but was dropped by Alphonse Areola after just four Premier League games and the club conceded 11 goals.

He did not play again until the FA Cup victory over Queens Park Rangers in January, and did not return to the Premier League until the away game against Burnley on February 7.

But since his reinstatement he has made more saves than any other Premier League goalkeeper and has kept four clean sheets in eight games.

“I wanted to come in and prove to my teammates, the club and the fans that they made a good decision by bringing me in, but of course the performance wasn’t what I had hoped for,” Hermansson said, reflecting on his difficult start. “I’m glad I got another chance to show what I can do.”

Hermansson said he is “proud” of how he used his time away from the team to improve his game so he is ready to step up when needed.

“It was a tough period but I also had the opportunity to show my qualities and how disciplined and hard I can work over a longer period of time,” he said. “I proved to myself what I can really do when the going gets tough.

“I’m proud of the work I’ve done during that period and to be able to take that onto the pitch and get some great performances and great results with the team is really great.”

What areas of the game does he focus on? “I’m a very emotional person and when things get emotional I ask myself how can I take all this emotional stuff out of the football part of my life and just do my job and do my best, so every night when I go to bed I can say to myself that I did everything I could to improve and present myself in the best possible way.

“Those questions I had to ask myself during that period, I’ve really learned to carry those questions with me now when I play, and that helps me a lot.

“Coming out of the hard times, it would be easy for me to say it was really good for me, but I definitely learned a lot from it.”

Hermansson, like West Ham United, has become stronger through the run-in. But he and his teammates know the job isn’t done yet.

“We’re very confident in ourselves,” he said. “It’s going to be tough, but we believe we have a lot to give.”