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Jarrod Bowen eyeing 'special' season after West Ham reinforcements

:Headline: Jarrod Bowen eyeing 'special' season after West Ham reinforcements:
The Hammers begin their Europa League campaign away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.
Sports Mole

West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen hopes the arrivals of Kurt Zouma, Alex Kral and Nikola Vlasic can help make it another "special" season as the club prepare to embark on a European adventure.

The Hammers kick off their Europa League campaign away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday evening after storming to a surprise sixth-placed finish in the Premier League last season.

With the additional competition creating a packed schedule, manager David Moyes moved to strengthen his squad just before the transfer deadline by recruiting a trio of internationals.

Creative Croatia playmaker Vlasic made his debut as a second-half substitute in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Southampton, while France defender Zouma and Czech midfielder Kral were unused substitutes.

The St Mary's stalemate marked the first of seven games in just 23 days for the London club and Bowen has welcomed the increased competition.

"It's building on what we achieved last season," the 24-year-old told West Ham's website.

"We've got the Europa League this season as well and with the players we've signed and the stature they've got, they're only going to help improve the team.

"That's what we want: we want competition for places, we want as many players as fit as we can because we've got a lot of games this season, and we want to make it a special one."

Ex-Hull winger Bowen went closest to a West Ham winner on the south coast when his second-half volley was tipped over by Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

But the Hammers – who missed the chance to go top of the table – were fortunate to escape with their unbeaten record intact after lively Saints substitute Armando Broja hit a post before seeing a late header cleared off the line by Declan Rice.

Moyes' men were then deprived of the services of the top flight's August player of the month Michail Antonio for next weekend's clash with Manchester United after he was sent off for a second booking deep into added time.

"It was one of those afternoons where we had a lot of the ball but ultimately in the final third – where we've been really good recently – we were a bit off," said Bowen.

Southampton's Mohammed Salisu, right, battles Jarrod Bowen for possession (Kieran Cleeves/PA)

"It's disappointing but, when you're not fully at it, keeping a clean sheet and getting a point away from home has to be looked at as a positive."

Southampton's clean sheet was their first of a campaign which is still to bring a league win.

Antonio, the top-flight's leading scorer, was well shackled by a combination of Jack Stephens and Mohammed Salisu.

Ghanaian Salisu has been a regular so far this term, having been restricted to just eight Premier League starts last season after his £10.8million arrival from Spanish side Real Valladolid.

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has been impressed with the 22-year-old's physicality but is eager to develop his technical attributes in the wake of Jannik Vestergaard's summer departure to Leicester.

Michail Antonio, centre, had a frustrating afternoon (Kieran Cleeves/PA)

"On the man he's very strong. In the duels he's very nasty because he's on them and this is his game," Hasenhuttl said of Salisu.

"He still has to improve his game with the ball, that can be much better but we are going slowly this way. It's not something we learn from one day to the other.

"We force him to play more football, he didn't do it so much in his career so far but this is what we want.

"He's not a Vestergaard so far with the ball but we want to improve him and finally I'm happy for both centre-backs that they have their first clean sheet this season."

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds38257670284282
2Leicester CityLeicester37264774334182
3Ipswich TownIpswich38249580493181
4Southampton36227773472673
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom381991059362366
6Norwich CityNorwich381871369541561
7Hull City371610115346758
8Coventry CityCoventry3715121059431657
9Preston North EndPreston37168134954-556
10Middlesbrough38166165352154
11Cardiff CityCardiff38165174351-853
12Sunderland38146184845348
13Watford381212145351248
14Bristol City38138174245-347
15Swansea CitySwansea381210164858-1046
16Millwall381110173650-1443
17Blackburn RoversBlackburn38119185164-1342
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth381011175462-841
19Stoke CityStoke38118193553-1841
20Queens Park RangersQPR381010183650-1440
21Birmingham CityBirmingham38109194259-1739
22Huddersfield TownHuddersfield38815154261-1939
23Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds38115223061-3138
24Rotherham UnitedRotherham38311243077-4720
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