Avram Grant believes his West Ham side are lacking the belief they will need to survive in the Premier League this season after watching them scrape past Oxford in the second round of the Carling Cup (West Ham 5/2 to be relegated).
The former Portsmouth and Chelsea coach took over at Upton Park in the summer after the Hammers board decided to sack Gianfranco Zola following their brush with the drop.
The east London side narrowly avoided relegation last year and had hoped with Grant at the helm they would be challenging for a place in the top half.
However, so far it hasn’t worked out for Grant’s men, losing their first two matches in the Premier League.
West Ham (40/1 Carling Cup Outright) are one of three teams without a point from their opening fixtures and could easily have been on the wrong end of a cup upset on Tuesday night.
They welcomed League Two side Oxford to Upton Park expecting to roll over the Yellows and boost their confidence ahead of this weekend’s match against Manchester United.
Instead they had to rely on skipper Scott Parker to get them out of jail again with a 90th-minute winner after surviving a number of close shaves.
Despite West Ham getting their first win of the season under their belts Grant was unhappy with the manner of their performance and pointed to the players’ delicate mindset as to why they are currently struggling.
“Mentally it is not just because it is the first win but that we did it in the last moment,” said Grant. “This team carried a lot of psychology problems.
“When everything goes well we are OK, when it does not we are a bit nervous.”
The Israeli will be desperate to get his player’s heads right ahead of this Saturday’s match against Manchester United (1/6 to beat the Hammers) at Old Trafford.
West Ham have won one of their previous seven meetings at the Theatre of Dreams, shipping nine goals in their last three matches there.
With a match against champions Chelsea to come the week after Grant is hopeful that Tuesday’s victory will give his side a much needed confidence boost.
“Tonight [Tuesday] they saw that if you don’t give up and keep trying to do the right things you can score in the last moment,” he added.
“When you play against a team not from our league they will always defend. I liked that the players continued to pass the ball and were not crazy to score.
“We are in the next round and that is the most important thing.”
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