West Ham fullback Pablo Zabaleta admits the meltdown last season against Burnley was tough to take.

Zabaleta says London stadium is a different place compared to that game last season.

“That Burnley game was probably one of the hardest days for me as a football player," Zabaleta told Mirror.

“In my 11 years of being here I'd never been involved in a game in England when I'd seen fans coming on to the pitch. Never.

“It wasn't good for the club, for the players, for everyone. But the good thing is we have learned from that experience and you can see now that the owners really get it.

“They have shown great support in the summer by bringing in the new manager, new players, spending big because they want to be listening to people. They want to take this club forward.

“When we play against the top teams, home or away, we don't need to change the way we play. We have seen this against Manchester United. We've seen it against Chelsea. Against the top sides we have kept playing in the same way. This is the manager's philosophy.

“So it's not because City are the champions of England or the best team in England that we need to be afraid. We need to respect them, but if we want to achieve or be a top club we need to keep playing in the same way."