Source: PA
Grant: Hammers deserve to survive
Manager Avram Grant insists West Ham deserve to stay in the Barclays Premier League and has challenged his side to take points off former charges Chelsea.
The Israeli came within a whisker of Champions League glory during his nine-month spell with the Blues, during which time they also finished as runners-up in the Premier League and Carling Cup.
Now Grant is having to deal with life at the other end of the table, with West Ham embroiled in a relegation scrap with just five games remaining. After seemingly overcoming a turbulent start to the season, West Ham have dropped to 19th in the table and face a difficult set of fixtures as they look to secure their survival.
First up is a trip to Stamford Bridge and the Hammers boss believes his team have the potential to surprise. "Chelsea are a good team," he said. "They know how to play football and even when they are not in top form they are a good team. And you don't just look at the players they play, their bench is also strong.
"They are a strong side but in football you need to believe all the time that you can do something and we believe that we can do it. The one thing that is important is that we need to give everything to stay in the league and I think we deserve to be here.
"Look over the season at the football we have played and the character we have shown in very, very difficult moments, and the decisions of the referees, including in the last game (a 2-1 home defeat by Aston Villa). We fought against everything so we deserve to stay up, but nobody will give this to us so we need to do it."
