West Ham are ready to rise to the challenge of facing a Sunderland side managed for the first time by Dick Advocaat , according to defender Aaron Cresswell . The Black Cats travel to Upton Park on Saturday evening just one point and one place outside of the Premier League relegation zone , having sacked Gus Poyet after last weekend 's 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa . Advocaat has been appointed until the end of the season with the aim of keeping the club in the top flight , and Cresswell - a Premier League ever-present for West Ham so far this campaign - knows the game takes on extra significance following the Dutchman 's appointment . Aaron Cresswell ( right ) says West Ham are ready to face Sunderland on Saturday evening . Cresswell admits it will be tough facing a team who have just appointed a new manager . 'What was already set to be a tough but exciting game has that bit more to it now Sunderland have brought a new manager in , ' he told West Ham 's official website . ' I do n't know too much about Dick Advocaat but he 's certainly got a lot of experience and we 're expecting a difficult match . Every game in the Premier League is a challenge and we will have to rise to it . 'When a new manager comes in it gives everyone at the club a lift and the players will want to impress the new manager . 'The first game under a new manager seems to favour the team with the new manager and I certainly think that was the case when we played West Bromwich Albion on New Year 's Day just after Tony Pulis had taken over . ' Dick Advocaat has taken over at Sunderland until the end of the season . Advocaat takes charge of the Black Cats for the first time away at West Ham on Saturday evening . Although Advocaat will want a positive result in his first game in charge , the fixture is also crucial to West Ham and their manager Sam Allardyce . Following an impressive start , Allardyce has seen his side fall away from the pack chasing European qualification with the Hammers having won just one of their last 12 league games . In that spell they have come up against Liverpool , Manchester United , Southampton , Tottenham , Arsenal and Chelsea but , of their final nine league outings , only two come against sides in the top half . 'We 've had a tough run of fixtures recently and while no game is easy in the Premier League , some are harder than others , ' Cresswell added . 'Having played all the top clubs in the last two months , we know that we have a fair few winnable games in our last nine games so I firmly believe we can finish strongly . 'We have n't had the results that we feel our performances deserve so we need to work that bit harder to make sure we get what our performances merit . No one at the club wants the season to fade away and we want to finish as high as we can . '
West Ham host Sunderland at Upton Park on evening . The match sees Dick Advocaat manage the Black Cats for the first time . Aaron Cresswell says West Ham are ready for the challenge they face . Cresswell says it was 'already tough ' and has now been made more difficult with the new manager aspect .