WEST Ham boss David Moyes admitted “I thought we’d go on and win the game,” when his side equalised versus Saints, going on to suffer a 3-2 defeat.

A late header from Jan Bednarek condemned the Hammers to defeat after they had twice hauled themselves level in the Premier League clash at the London Stadium.

But it was the first-half that left the experienced Scottish gaffer fuming at his side’s performance.

“I didn’t think it was anything like us. I’m hoping I can make it an off-day for us. It was not the West Ham I’ve been with in the last two years,” said Moyes.

“You can have off-days. We’re not any different. Today was a poor one. I thought we’d done enough to get ourselves back in the game and turn a bad day into a good day.

“In the first half we were really poor. We didn’t have enough energy. We couldn’t build any momentum. To be honest, I could have changed four or five at half-time."

Moyes made a double-switch during the break with Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini replacing Pablo Fornals and Nikola Vlasic.

“I felt there would only be one winner at that point. Even at 1-1, I thought we’d go on to win the game. Or at least not lose it.”

Hammers kicked off in fifth place but are now set to lose further ground on the top four.

“We’ve got to stay in a good, strong position, and stay on the tails of the teams above us if we can, and keep moving on,” added Moyes.

“The first half was flat. It lacked energy from what we would normally be like. At least they improved in the second half, the players.”