West Ham United defender Aaron Cresswell rues missed chances against Aston Villa

West Ham United defender Aaron Cresswell has admitted that a lack of finishing cost his side during their 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

The Hammers were beaten for the third time in six Premier League matches on Saturday as they suffered a narrow loss at Villa Park.

However, Cresswell believes that the visitors could have come away with at least a share of the spoils if they were sharper up front.

"We're disappointed," he told the club's official website. "We just need to take one of the chances we're creating, but unfortunately we couldn't do that and we paid the price with the goal they scored in the first half.

"They're fighting for their lives down at the bottom and that's never nice for anyone, including the players. They were 1-0 up and they were always going to sit back in the last 15, 20 minutes. We just needed that goal which we couldn't get.

"We want to finish with a flourish by taking six points from the two games against Everton and Newcastle, to try and finish as high up that table as we can."

West Ham are back in Premier League action on May 16 when they welcome Everton to Upton Park.