Sam Allardyce believes that patience is key to West Ham turning the corner.
The under-pressure Allardyce told the assembled press pack at Chadwell Heath this morning that no discussions with regards to his immediate future had taken place with either David Sullivan or David Gold - despite United's miserable recent record."I wouldn't have thought I'd need any discussions with the owners, they're either going to stick with me or they're not," retorted Allardyce, when asked if any talks had taken place. "That's entirely up to them depending on how they see me in the job and how they see the situation at the moment.
"I can only say that when I look at their history, they've always shown a level of patience to try and overcome a difficult situation. I hope this will be the same [for me] and I'm sure it will. At the end [of the day] it's about us getting results again to alleviate the pressure on us all.
"Everyone will speculate about my position because I'm around other clubs who have got rid of their managers, so they all perceive that I'm the next in line. It's about picking a few results up and then the pressure goes away for a while. Hopefully we can sustain the results and keep the pressure off us all for a while.
"From our point of view we have to keep focused on our own job. It's the first time in two-and-a-half years that we've had a bad run since I've been here. It happens, we've got to make sure we're determined enough and have the right desire to overcome it."
Allardyce will have to do without the likes of Andy Carroll, Winston Reid, Stewart Downing, Ricardo Vaz Te, Mladen Petric (all injured) plus captain Kevin Nolan, who is suspended following his unnecessary dismissal at Liverpool last weekend.
However James Tomkins and Guy Demel, both of whom have been unwell this week, should be fit to play. "We're not in a great place particularly with the December programme we've got," confirmed Allardyce. "It's a difficult period for us and we all know what position we're in with results.
"The lads who are available need to step up to the plate and try and do the business. We hope that James Tomkins will come through the fitness test but we won't know that until tomorrow so I'll select the team around that.
"Off we go to try and repeat the Fulham performance against Sunderland - and hopefully get the same result."
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