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Peter Bosz believes West Ham will approach the second leg of the Europa League quarter final in a similar manner to that which they player in the first.

The Lyon coach, who has been under pressure from some sections of the French club's fanbase in recent weeks backed his team to beat West Ham when the two teams lock horns again on Thursday evening.

And he insisted he will be setting his team out to attack David Moyes' side, who will be without several key players for the game following the injury to Kurt Zouma and suspension of Aaron Cresswell.




"The most important thing in football is to score and not to concede," Bosz said during his pre-match press conference. "It's not easy. I have to work with the team for that.

"West Ham will have the same strategy as at the London Stadium, I think, but I am preparing the team for all scenarios. We will see tomorrow. I prepare my team to win games and to do that, you have to take chances and score.

"I hope we will learn from the things that we did not do well in the first leg. We have to prepare well for that."

And Bosz called upon the fans - with a capacity crowd of 42,000 expected in the Groupama Stadium - to drive their team forward to victory.

"The biggest difference from the first leg will be the atmosphere as the fans will be behind us this time," he added. ""The players have to realise that the supporters are behind us. We have to get them back on the pitch with that state of mind.

"We can qualify for the semi-finals here at home. When we have as many chances as we did in the first leg, you have to score."




Meanwhile Bosz confirmed that key striker Karl Toko Ekambi is set to start, having only been fit enough to begin on the subs bench in Stratford last week following a bout of Covid - while waiting for news on other players including goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, Houssem Aouar, Thiago Mendes and Tanguy Ndombele - who are all struggling for fitness.

"Toko Ekambi is important with his goals and his dribbling," he said. "He is dangerous and he is playing better and better.

"I'll talk to the medical staff about the injuries from the match against Strasbourg. We'll see if they train with the squad this afternoon [Wednesday]. A Europa League quarter final is a special event."

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