West Ham United Football Club

• Nickname:Hammers
• Founded:1895
• Manager:Sam Allardyce

• Ground:Upton Park
• Capacity:35595

Upson makes back-to-basics call

24 Mar 2010 - 16:06:31

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England international defender Matthew Upson accepts that West Ham United are at rock bottom after the 3-1 home defeat to relegation rivals Wolves.

The Hammers have tasted defeat in each of their last five league matches and were booed off the pitch on Tuesday at the final whistle by the fans that had not already streamed out of the ground.

Upson accepts recent displays have not been of the required standard, saying on the club's official website: "We're in a position where, certainly at home in the last couple of games, we haven't delivered performances that were acceptable.

"At this stage of the season, looking at our league position, you could say we're close to that point (rock bottom) and perhaps we need to realise that before we can make forward steps.

"It isn't a nice feeling, but what we're going to do about it is what we need to be focusing on and there are enough games left for us to accumulate the points we need.

"We need to have a long, hard look and change something about what we're doing. It's up to us, the management and the players, to do something.

"It just looks like we've lost that ability to work as a team at the moment. We need to go back to basics on that front and realise what we've got to do tactically to get the three points.

"We need to work on that on the training pitch, and probably off it as well, and be more of a group. Hopefully, that will change our performance against Stoke for Saturday."