Grant confident over Hammers survival

Grant confident over Hammers survival

Published Nov. 1, 2010 9:15 a.m. ET

The Irons remained bottom of the table following the 1-0 defeat at title-chasing Arsenal, which came only after Alex Song's header with just two minutes left. Grant, however, believes he has seen enough in recent performances, which included a five-match unbeaten run, to give him genuine confidence for the battles ahead - with games coming up against Birmingham, West Brom and Blackpool. "The difference to winning is not a big difference, it is a combination of the mental things and good things," Grant said. "If after two months, all the performances were very bad, it would be worse, but if we can take the performance together with the points it would be good. "Against Arsenal away is not easy, but the next game is more important." Grant maintained: "I am sure that we can do it, I am very positive about this year. "I saw that we had a good performance, we played well, we have fighting spirit. At the end of the day, it will come." Grant insisted he was not just looking to offer platitudes. "Maybe I have to say it, but I have a base to do it," the West Ham manager maintained. "Until this game we had seven matches in all competitions and lost once. "We drew three we were closer to winning. I don't say it without any facts." West Ham defender Lars Jacobsen challenged his team-mates to provide the right response. "In your career you will always lose disappointing games. If you can't recover from those disappointments then you will never reach the level to play in the Premier League," said the Dane. "We are professional players and it is our job to get ourselves together and get the points we need." Jacobsen continued: "Everyone knows we can play football, but sometimes in the past maybe we didn't fight enough. "We have to continue doing that. If we do, I'm sure the points will come. "I know there is a bit of a gap at the bottom now, but the bigger picture is two losses and three wins in our last seven games, so we have to take the positives." As well as some superb displays by goalkeeper Robert Green, Hammers midfielder Scott Parker again impressed - which cannot have gone unnoticed by watching England coach Franco Baldini. "It surprises me [not playing for England] because I think he is maybe one of the best midfielders," Grant said. "You need to see how he trains, his quality. He is in good shape this season and I hope he continues like this. "Scott deserves to be in England squad, no doubt about this."

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