Kevin Nolan admitted that West Ham were “in a fight” following their 3-1 defeat by Fulham.
Skipper Nolan scored his sixth League goal of the season in the 48th minute to cancel out Dimitar Berbatov’s early headed opener but poor defending allowed Hugo Rodallega and then a late own goal by Joey O’Brien to make the game safe for the home side.
The Hammers have taken just five points from their last nine games and are seven points above the Premier League drop zone but Nolan is confident that they can turn things round.
“We know we’re in a fight but we’re not looking behind us, we’re confident we can still push for that top 10,” he said.
“We know we’ve got the quality, it’s just not going for us at the moment.
“Whether it is referees’ decisions, whether it’s people making a silly little mistake here or there, I’m confident that we can turn this around and I’m looking forward to what I believe will be a good end to the season. We haven’t scored many goals away from home so we knew we would have to be on our guard.
“It [Rodallega’s goal] was sloppy to concede, especially after we worked so hard to get back in the game.”
Nolan (above) also criticised the match officials following Berbatov’s goal after 10 minutes from a free-kick. “The first goal is two yards offside and if the linesman cannot see that then something has got to be done,” he said.
“It is pathetic. I don’t want to get done by the Football Association but he has got to get those decisions right. That is their bread and butter.
“We’re working on the training ground to make sure that we keep a high line, keep a good line and it has worked fantastically. He is offside, he hasn’t given it and we go 1-0 down.”
West Ham also had two penalty appeals for handball rejected by referee Chris Foy and Nolan said: “They were blatant handballs in my eyes.
“We’ve come up from the Championship and had a really good start but sometimes you need the officials to be strong.”
