Under-pressure West Ham boss Avram Grant is refusing to let rumours surrounding his future distract him from his task at hand at Upton Park.
Grant's position is under further threat after a 3-0 defeat at home to Arsenal on Saturday that followed headlines suggesting Martin O'Neill is poised to take over at the bottom-of-the-table club.
Through it all, Israeli Grant is remaining steadfastly pragmatic as he said: "I had two choices, and chose to focus on the football.
"Of course rumours on the day of a game do not help, it does not matter where they came from.
"I still want to focus on the thing I can control, and this is the team.
"If we do the right thing, there will be a bright future here, and not just in the cup."
A brace from Robin van Persie that sandwiched a Theo Walcott strike condemned the Hammers to their latest defeat and ensured Arsenal remain in third, hot on the heels of the two Manchester clubs.
