Manuel Pellegrini has said he wants his players to be brave when they take on Champions League-chasing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
The Hammers were dismal in their 2-0 defeat to Everton last weekend and have had plenty of time to stew over that lacklustre outing which dropped them down to 11th in the table.
There shouldn't be any problem in the players getting themselves geared up for a London derby against their west London rivals, you suspect Mark Noble will see to that if they don't, and their manager gave them a bit of a rallying call ahead of the game as well.
The manager said at his pre-match press conference on Thursday: "I need to see players that are not afraid to play against Chelsea away, after that Manchester United, we must try to go there and not just defend a result, try to play and we will see who plays better.
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"I repeat that we will try to finish this season as high as we can in the table. We are trying to involve all the players in that mentality, the season is not over - maybe a lot of people can be happy as we are not fighting relegation as was last season - for that reason I understand that some may be happy but our mentality must always be to decide more."
The Hammers players looked like rabbits in headlights last weekend as they once again made a horlicks of a chance to go seventh in the table, the fifth time they have lost when in position to take that spot.
They will have to sort out their dismal away record if they are to get anything on Monday night, however. West Ham have picked up just one point since December on the road, that came in a draw with Crystal Palace in February.
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Their last win on their travels came way back on December 27 last year when they saw off Southampton at St Mary's when Felipe Anderson, who is set to return from injury on Monday, scored a double.
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