Nuno Espirito Santo knows West Ham have a lot of work to do despite Everton draw

Nuno Espirito Santo admitted West Ham “have a lot of work” to do although he was encouraged at his reign starting with a battling 1-1 draw at Everton.

The Portuguese was appointed as Hammers head coach on Saturday after Graham Potter was sacked, with the club 19th in the Premier League table after starting their season with four defeats in five matches.

Having overseen just a couple of training sessions, Nuno saw his side fall behind to Michael Keane’s 18th-minute header and Everton had several chances to extend their lead at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

But the visitors competed on even terms in the final half hour and Jarrod Bowen’s strike after 65 minutes, which brushed Keane’s head, ensured the teams shared the spoils, to Nuno’s satisfaction.

“First impression is I think the team competed well,” Nuno said. “This is a tough, tough place to come. It was a good game, intense, both teams had chances. The message for us is how we can compete now.

“It’s a simple message. The basics of a football match, defend properly (and) attack. Now we are in the process of knowing ourselves better so we can have good options and solutions.

“When you arrive at a club, it’s slowly and progressively trying to find the right options and solutions. Look at the player and try to improve them.

“We are starting now. We have a lot of work in front of us but we are delighted and we embrace the challenge. The players that came in did well and this is what we expect from our squad.”

After falling behind, chants of ‘sack the board’ and ‘we want our club back’ rang around the away end, with owner David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady again bearing the brunt of supporters’ ire.

Nuno, back managing a Premier League side less than three weeks after