Former West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has said he preferred playing at Upton Park and feels the prospect of a trip to the Olympic Stadium isn't as daunting.

The Hammers left the Boleyn Ground in 2016 to move to the London Stadium in Stratford to increase capacity and raise the profile of the club, but many supporters have expressed regret about the switch in venue.

Some believe the atmosphere has taken a hit, with fans being positioned far away from the touchlines to accommodate the running track.

Slaven Bilic managed West Ham for two seasons and led them into the Olympic Stadium

A trip to Upton Park was always daunting, but not so much at the London Stadium, says Bilic

Bilic now coaches West Brom and will be taking his players to east London for an FA Cup replay with West Ham on Saturday, and the Croatian says there is 'no discussion' about which ground was more hostile to play in.

'It's not an excuse but if you ask me what was it better to play at Upton Park or not then there's no discussion,' Bilic told the Telegraph.

'It was more home, it was more hostile. Not one opposition player enjoyed it when they had to go to Upton Park! That's a fact.

'The Olympic Stadium is very different for an away team. You enjoy it more. It's not that you were afraid for your life at Upton Park, but everything was there!'

West Ham fans had a strong connection to Upton Park and some have opposed the new ground

Supporters have struggled to create a good atmosphere at times at the London Stadium

He gave the example of Arsenal, who enjoyed great success at Highbury, winning three Premier League titles, but have never quite been the same team after switching to the Emirates, with former boss Arsene Wenger admitting the team 'left their soul there'.

'Look at Arsenal,' he added. 'You saw what Wenger said: "We left our soul there [at Highbury]." And it's true. Even Atletico Madrid – their new stadium is too nice. Upton Park made you do this.

'Highbury made you do that, the old Atletico stadium made you do that. Everything is on top of you; everything is close. Also you have those memories and those responsibilities. This is what we did there and there. It's different.

Speaking to beIN sports, Wenger said: 'We built a new stadium but we never found our soul - we left our soul at Highbury.

Arsene Wenger said Arsenal 'left their soul at Highbury' and never adapted to the Emirates

'We could never recreate it for security reasons. The distance from the pitch to the stand had to be bigger as we needed ambulances to come in.

'The inclination of the stands had to be smaller, all those things together that we didn't find to recreate the atmosphere.'

Bilic, who managed West Ham for two seasons and led them into their new stadium, said he was concerned about the modernisation of stadiums, adding that there were very few 'traditional' grounds less in the English top flight.

Bilic now manages West Brom and is targeting a scalp against his former side in the FA Cup

'What also changes are the fans. It's like pubs. Now you have modern bars. When you take people out of the pub and go to them they don't feel comfortable.

'They prefer pubs where it is packed and you are shoulder to shoulder. Like what Roy Keane said about the 'prawn sandwich brigade' - it leads to that.

'You don't want to lose that hostile home advantage and there are very few of those traditional clubs left in the Premier League because the league forces you to become more a corporation than a football club.'