Scott: I Want To Stay

Scott Minto has revealed he wants to stay at Upton Park beyond his contract running out at the end of this season.

"I love it at West Ham and my family is settled. My contract is up and we will just have to wait and see," he says.

Scott, who is likely to make way for Nigel Winterburn - who has recovered from injury - against Bolton Wanderers at the weekend, says the Hammers were robbed at Old Trafford by Jermain Defoe not getting a penalty early on and then having a 'goal' disallowed for offside just before half time.

"It is difficult to criticise referees," he says, "because I don't really like doing that - but it was almost every single decision going their way. We were offside and they weren't, and the goal was the linesman's job.

"Everyone makes mistakes - but the decision for the linesman should have been quite elementary, really.

"If you go in at 2-1 you feel you are back in the game, and against a team like Man United you need all the luck you can get.

"But it wasn't luck, it was just a bad decision, and coming up to the second half I think we would have felt confident about coming back.

"It was a definite penalty; but it was probably too early in the game.

"I will have to choose my words carefully, but it was a penalty and he saw it - you can't tell me he didn't.

"It was great skill by Jermain and you need referees to be strong.

"Obviously the killer was the two goals in a minute and I thought up until then although we weren't necessarily the best team I thought we contained them very well.

"Generally speaking I don't think it was a bad performance and we held really well after the two goals because they could have gone on and romped it - we were strong in the mind as well.

"Don't get me wrong, Manchester United are a fantastic side but you need the breaks."

Scott is far from despondent about the side's predicament and explains: "We have been working really hard in training and we feel that we have turned a corner - even though the results don't show it. I don't think anyone can say we have been playing that badly.

"It is just a case of sticking together, not just the lads but the fans as well, and we desperately want to give the fans a first home win against Bolton."

As for his own performance last weekend, he says: "I had had a touch of flu so Old Trafford was the first time I had kicked a ball since Wednesday but I felt reasonably good.

"When you have been out as long as I have over my time at West Ham you need a good run in the side, and I hope I get that - but it is the manager's decision.

"I thought it might go on for a good few days and I might not even travel but when I heard Nigel hurt his hamstring it was a case of not wanting to miss a game like that."

Even if he does make way for Nigel at the weekend, the pair of them have seen off the competition from Vladimir Labant, who has returned to Sparta Prague, and he says: "I was surprised at the time he went because I thought nothing could happen until January, but he was a nice guy and a good player.

"But maybe Glenn feels between me and Nigel we can do well enough."

As for the pressure, he says: "You can't say there isn't any. We are bottom of the table, and we feel we shouldn't be in that position, but you get what you deserve - so there must be a reason why we are where we are.

"We feel although results haven't shown as such we have really turned the corner and are playing some decent football; we just need some decent luck.

"And of course we need a home win to get the fans on our side, and to show them we are prepared to die for the cause."

But who gets who going on Saturday?

"It is a two-way thing," says Scott, "but it is probably more that the players have got to get the fans going. When the West Ham fans are on your side they are like a 12th man, and are fantastic.

"Considering where we are in the table they have been pretty tolerant, but as games go on, teams know that when they come to our place and we haven't scored the first goal, which is the crucial thing, it can make everyone a bit more nervous.

"I think the fans get nervous and it transmits to the players - but it is up to us to show them we are not nervous and looking forward to every home game.

"I thought we played excellently and battled hard at Old Trafford and I think the fans could see that; I think the outcome was a kick in the teeth, it really was.

"There are a lot of teams that seem to play badly and win and we would settle for that at the moment - make no bones about it.

"We feel as a squad we have been playing quite well in recent weeks and we just need that little bit of luck - and the important first goal."