The east London outfit have lost all three of their Premier League matches thus far and the club’s only victory came thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Scott Parker against League Two side Oxford United in the Carling Cup.

West Ham currently find themselves rooted to the foot of the league having been beaten by Manchester United, Bolton and Aston Villa, conceding nine goals and scoring just one.

The Hammers are likely to remain there for the next week at least as they prepare to welcome league leaders and defending champions Chelsea (1/3 to beat West Ham) to Upton Park on Saturday.

Having replaced Gianfranco Zola with Avram Grant at the back end of last season and brought in six new players during the transfer window the Hammers had been expected to move away from the wrong end of the league.

However, Grant’s new additions have failed to bed in and with constant speculation linking the likes of Scott Parker and Carlton Cole with moves away from London it has been a tough start for the Israeli manager.

West Ham owners Sullivan and David Gold were outspoken in their criticism of former boss Zola when the team were struggling last season.

However, Sullivan has come out in support of Grant and insists there is no truth behind the rumours the new manager is already under pressure to produce results.

“I’d like to put the record straight,” Sullivan told the London Evening Standard.

“Nobody is pressing any panic buttons and reports to the contrary are rubbish. We are building a new team under a new manager and transition is a tough time but game by game, I anticipate an improvement over the coming months.

“We expect the team to come together over the next few games and see some real progress. When we looked at the early fixtures we knew we faced a tough time but we only managed two points from the same fixtures last season.”

The former Birmingham owner also backtracked on comments he had made about the foreign contingent at Upton Park after he suggested last weekend that some of them ‘couldn’t be bothered’.

Sullivan now insists that it was just one or two players he was talking about when made his controversial outburst and claims the other members of the squad are all working hard to improve the Hammers situation.

Grant has also given his backing to the players and the board, insisting everyone is trying to do their best to rectify the current situation.

However, Grant will do well to start his salvage operation against Chelsea (6/5 Premier League outright) with the Blues having won all three of their opening matches, scoring 14 goals and conceding none thus far.

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Premier League leaders Chelsea will win a first domestic crown since 2006 if they beat Roberto Martinez’s Wigan – regardless of how the defending champions do against already-safe Stoke at Old Trafford (1/10 Chelsea 7/1 draw 20/1 Wigan – match betting).

Martinez has toed the party line by insisting his players will play for professional pride and refuse to roll over.

However, scratch below the surface and the omens do not look good for Latics.

They have lost their last seven top-flight matches in London, including a 9-1 hammering at Tottenham and 4-0 thrashing from Arsenal earlier this season.

United fans can take heart from the fact that Wigan have already beaten Chelsea this season and they effectively ended Arsenal’s title challenge three weeks ago when they appeared doomed.

But all the evidence suggests Chelsea should have too much to avoid a coupon buster against the visitors.

Carlo Ancelotti, twice a winner of the European Cup as a player and manager, only managed one Scudetto in a trophy-laden spell with his former club AC Milan.

But the experienced Italian remains on course for both the Premier League title and FA Cup.

Ancelotti has called for full concentration and demanded his players keep a lid on their emotions.

He said: “We have to play one more game, though, and nothing is decided yet. But we have a great opportunity and a great possibility because the team is fit, in good condition and has fantastic motivation for this game.”

“We have to be ready, but we have to play for 90 minutes. We come to play this game, to try our best. They have a very good team and beat us earlier in the season, so we have to pay attention,” he added.

Ricardo Carvalho, Jose Bosingwa, Michael Essien and John Mikel Obi, who will miss the FA Cup final against Portsmouth after knee surgery, will sit out the final game of the season.

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Aston Villa

The Villans have no margin for error as they chase fourth place in the Premier League and with it a chance to secure Champions League football for next season via the qualifying rounds of the competition.

And on the face of it Villa are entertaining Blues at a good time, with Alex McLeish’s men failing to register a win in their last seven games, but O’Neill reckons the form book goes out of the window in derby matches (5/4 Villa HT/FT).

He said: “That will not affect them going into a derby. They have done excellently all year and they have been a surprise to most people.

“They have eked out some amazing results this season and have done it through a lot of hard work, a lot of discipline and a lot of controlled play.

“I think that is the sort of side we are going to face and not a team which has not won in the last seven matches.”

O’Neill is a veteran of the Old Firm game north of the border from his five-year spell as Celtic boss – most of which coincided with McLeish’s spell in charge of Rangers – and he has drawn on all of his experience to warn his players they need to have the coolest heads in the ground.

He added: “To win a derby game you need discipline. I think discipline is important in these games as referees want to lay down the law pretty quickly.

“Incidents in a derby game seem to magnify themselves and if you pick up a yellow card early on it is a long way to go to keep out of further trouble.

“Villa have won the last five games between the sides and we are certainly capable of beating Birmingham.

“Are they capable of coming here and stifling us and making it exceptionally hard? Absolutely.

“We will have to be very strong mentally and force ourselves on the game. The highly charged atmosphere of a local derby should go on and inspire the players and I think it should be a very decent atmosphere.”

Blues’ season has taken a dip but McLeish will be desperate to finish in the top half of the Premier League which would be a magnificent achievement following promotion from the Championship 12 months ago.

The Scot then spent around £10m on squad strengthening and he does not expect to be handed mega-money during the close season.

He revealed: “Will there be more than £10million to spend this summer? It won’t be much more than that.

“I heard Walter Smith talking about having a fantastic season at Rangers and then, because he’s done well on a limited budget, they think they can take a bit more away and he can do it again.

“I worked like that at Rangers as well and you can’t keep doing that. You can’t keep pulling rabbits out of the hat. There has to be investment and I am sure the board will back me.”

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