West Ham will be alright says Danny Gabbidon

He said: "There's two games gone. We'd have liked to have more points on the board but there's a long way to go and we can't get too worried too early. We do want to start picking up some wins but there's still some encouraging signs and we'll take that into the following games."

Two of those games are a trip to Manchester United this Saturday followed by a home clash with champions Chelsea. Difficult opposition to try and prise points from but Gabbidon, 31, was positive.

He said: "It's a tough start for us but every game is tough in the Premier League so we have to go into every game believing we can win.

"We played a lot better against Bolton than we did against Villa, so that's an improvement, but there's a lot of improvements still to be made. Manchester United is another big one but we'll go there and hopefully we'll defend a bit better.

"You have to be confident. They're the games you want to play in and they are the top players you want to play against and show how good you are. If you go into those games with any kind of fear then they've already got the upper hand. You just have to be confident. We haven't got any points yet so why not start next week."

Gabbidon was impressed with the contributions of new signings Pablo Barrera and Frederic Piquionne.

He said: "They've settled in well. Pablo is lively and he's going to be a fans' favourite. He showed some nice touches and is quite direct, which is good for the strikers. They know when the ball is going to be coming in and hopefully he'll provide some good service for them.

"Piquionne did really well. He works hard and holds the ball up well. We've got Hitzlsperger to come back too, and he's done well in pre-season. Hopefully they can all settle down quickly and we can start picking up some points."