Source: Daily_Mail
For the fans: Upson demands home improvement from his Hammers team-mates
Matthew Upson feels West Ham[LNB]owe their fans a good performance when Manchester City[LNB]come to Upton Park tomorrow. [LNB]Gianfranco Zola's side went down 2-0 to Middlesbrough[LNB]in their FA Cup replay on Wednesday night, with the large travelling contingent of around 4,000 from Teesside bitterly disappointed by the below-par display. [LNB]Following a decent run of form just before and after Christmas, the Hammers have now not won in five matches. [LNB][LNB] For the fans: Matthew Upson feels West Ham owe their ardent followers a winning performance following their disappointing FA Cup exit at Middlesbrough[LNB]Nevertheless, victory over improving City at Upton Park on Sunday could lift the Hammers back up into the top eight and maintain their outside hopes of qualifying for Europe via the Barclays Premier League. [LNB]Upson said: 'We need to regroup and address what went wrong. [LNB]'We never got going at Middlesbrough and it was a real disappointment. [LNB]'We wanted to put on a good performance and it was a wasted opportunity to do something in the FA Cup.[LNB] Hammers boss Zola warns: It's not all about Bellamy - City have ten other dangerous players [LNB]WEST HAM v Manchester City: Noble's absence adds to Zola's woes ahead of City arrival [LNB]WEST HAM UNITED FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB] [LNB]'We need to raise the standards of everyone around us. We did not have the sharpness at Middlesbrough and what made it worse was we had such an awesome away following. It felt twice as bad to lose, we had let the fans down.' [LNB]The England centre-half has also called on his team-mates to 'dig deep' at what is a crucial part of the campaign. [LNB]'We may have been a bit jaded from last weekend at Bolton perhaps, but this is the hard part of the season and we have to deal with it,' he said.[LNB]'There has been no room for squad rotation in the last few months, but now we have to dig in and improve.' [LNB]Hot reception: But Upson does not believe the Hammers boo-boys will effect in-form Craig Bellamy [LNB] Tomorrow will see the return of Craig Bellamy to Upton Park for the first time since his £14million transfer in January.[LNB]The Welshman may be expecting something of a hot reception from the Hammers' fans, but Upson does not expect that to affect his former team-mate. [LNB]'He does not care what people say or think. That is him,' said Upson. [LNB]'He is old enough now to know what is going to be said about his behaviour. [LNB]'Craig is a good player, makes clever runs - but we play against decent players every week in the Premier League.'[LNB] Hammers boss Zola warns: It's not all about Bellamy - City have ten other dangerous players [LNB]WEST HAM v Manchester City: Noble's absence adds to Zola's woes ahead of City arrival [LNB]WEST HAM UNITED FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB][LNB] [LNB] [LNB]
