Ilunga raring to go for West Ham this season

By Simon Hayes on August 4, 2010 9:37 AM |

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herita ilunga142.jpg Herita Ilunga is determined to put his injury woes behind him and help turn West Ham's fortunes around.

The Congolese left-back made only 17 appearance last season as injury blighted his campaign, and his absence was one of the key reasons the Irons struggled.

But the 28-year-old has regained his fitness and is raring to get the new season underway.

He said: "I worked a lot during the summer to do well. I am happy with my pre-season, so I have to keep working like that.

"It was very difficult last season. It was the first time I've had that in my career, to be four months off the pitch. It was very hard for me, but it's the footballer's life. More important for me I'm back to help the team now."

Ilunga said he was enjoying life under new manager Avram Grant.

He said: "He's come with a good mentality. He's got everybody work well. It will be a good season for West Ham, definitely.

"The first thing is he wants to win. Everybody wants to win. It's very important. We don't like to do like last season. We want to do better."

manuel da costa142.jpg Ilunga, who lives in Canary Wharf, was at Jubilee Place mall last week with team-mate Manuel Da Costa (pictured left). The pair were playing table tennis as part of the Ping! festival, and Ilunga said it's a sport he loves to play.

He said: "I enjoy it a lot. I love this game. I played it a lot when I was young, the same for Manu. We have a table in the training ground and every time we can play, we play.

"But I won't change career, definitely not. When we see the professionals playing, there's a lot of work to be done."

Meanwhile West Ham's pre-season warm-ups continued last night with a 1-1 draw at Southend, with Alessandro Diamanti scoring.

The Irons have enjoyed a good run in their friendly fixtures, with four wins and a draw. This Saturday they play Spanish side Deportivo la Coruna at Upton Park in the SBOBET Cup.

The Hammers have also revealed they are close to clinching the signing of a player who starred for his country in this summer's World Cup, which means he's unlikely to be English.

More intriguingly, the club have yet to offload any players. This season, all Premier League clubs are limited to 25-man squad, to be named on September 1. The Hammers have 31 players in their senior squad, so some departures are inevitable over the next few weeks.