Wigan must be a win

By Simon Hayes on April 26, 2007 12:00 AM |

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THE FIGHT goes on but West Ham know the next round could bring the knock-out blow.
The Hammers travel to Wigan this Saturday (April 28) with their season on the ropes and must go toe-to-toe with their relegation rivals in yet another six-pointer.
A win would keep survival hopes alive but defeat would almost certainly consign them to Championship football next season.

And the Hammers' faithful must wonder which West Ham team will take to the field at the JJB Stadium: the battling braves who beat Arsenal and Blackburn or the punch-drunk dopes who surrendered tamely against Charlton and Sheffield United.
The performance against Everton last Saturday (April 21) was a marked improvement on the poor second-half showing against Chelsea three days earlier and Alan Curbishley knows his team need to produce the goods again.
"It was a fantastic result for us and a terrific performance from the players," he said.
"Once again it's come against a top side but now we've got to start thinking about how to get that against a side in a similar situation to us.
"The side didn't really turn up at Sheffield. It's definitely got to turn up at Wigan but there's still a bit of light at the end of the tunnel."
Curbishley gambled by naming five outfield players on the bench against Everton and it looked to have backfired when goalkeeper Robert Green injured his hand during the first half.
But fate smiled on the Hammers as Green's dislocated finger was quickly repaired and he saw out the game, although Everton's lacklustre forward line did little to test him on a boiling afternoon at the Boleyn Ground.
The Irons will be relying on their patched-up warriors, including Green and top scorer Bobby
Zamora, to see them through at Wigan. Zamora has been playing with a knee injury for the last few weeks but has been banging in vital goals, much to the delight of the passionate West Ham fans.
Around 3,000 of the Upton Park faithful will take advantage of free coach travel, courtesy of the club and the players, to roar on their side at Wigan and Curbishley acknowledged the support his side have had home and away this season.
He said: "It's a terrific response. I know the club and the players have helped out but the fans would have gone there anyway. It's amazing. Some of the grounds we've been to we've sold out ends and I'm not used to that. We just have to give them something to sing about next week."
Three precious points would certainly do the trick.
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