Slaven Bilic: Dimitri Payet's 'on the same level as Mesut Ozil'

Dimitri Payet's potential return to action this Saturday has got one person in particular very excited.

"I rate him on the same level as Mesut Ozil," West Ham manager Slaven Bilic said of his French midfielder.

Arsenal's Ozil is storming towards a Premier League assist tally that may never be beaten - he has 16 over the half of the campaign, making him just four short of Thierry Henry's record of 20.

While Payet had a fine start to his career in England before his ankle injury, with five goals and three assists in 12 appearances, many will scoff at Bilic's claim that the former Marseille man of equal standing to Ozil.

"He makes other players better. He creates space for others, he creates chances, he can take three or four players out of the game," Bilic gushed. "He adapted immediately to the club and the players recognised his ability straight away."

The Croatian has challenged the players, fans and those behind the scenes to begin to change its mentality, something he believes is important if West Ham is to challenge for the European places - or perhaps more.

He compared the Hammers' mindset to that of Saturday's opponent Liverpool.

"To become a big club, you need years of that, what Liverpool have: tradition, history, everything. And that reflects on your daily work, no matter who the coach is. It's about the jersey, it's the club," Bilic said.

Ahead of this weekend's early kickoff, West Ham is eighth in the Premier League table - just one point and place adrift of the visiting Reds.