Avram: Carling Cup win can help us

Avram Grant insists West Ham's Carling Cup win over Stoke was not the turning point of their season - because that had already been reached. But the Hammers boss is hoping their passage into the quarter-finals can help inspire the squad to stay on the winning path.West Ham scored a late equaliser in Wednesday night's fourth-round tie at Upton Park before going on to win 3-1 in extra-time, giving themselves a shot in the arm for their miserable Premier League campaign.Grant believes his side were already getting their season back on track, with Saturday's defeat to Newcastle the only black mark from an otherwise encouraging last six weeks."The turning point was a few weeks ago," said Grant, who was coming under mounting pressure with West Ham rooted to the foot of the Premier League."Even Saturday, we started the game like a top, top team, and then someone pushed the (self-destruct) button."It was West Ham's third-round win at Sunderland last month which arguably hinted at a change of fortune.An FA Cup run while Grant was at Portsmouth last season helped galvanise his squad when the club was deducted nine points for going into administration.And the Israeli believes reaching the latter stages of the League Cup can have a similar effect at West Ham."I think yes," he said."Last year with Portsmouth, I'm sure that if we'd not had the problems, we'd easily have stayed in the league."I believe in this team, I believe in this squad."Of course, we cannot solve all the problems in one day but, step by step, I think we are going forward."

Source: Team_Talk