Steve Fighting On

Steve Lomas is doing his best to get through the hectic holiday schedule with an ankle injury - but admits the situation is far from perfect.

"My ankle is still a bit sore and I am just trying to nurse myself through it - but it is not ideal," he says.

And club doctor Ges Steinbergs explains: "Lomy has got a sore ankle which has been there for a couple of games - but he is the kind of player who, as he keeps taking a knock on it and it gets sore, he comes back.

"He is on anti-inflammatories and we are going to do another scan to make sure there is no deterioration, and then make a decision as to how many games he can play.

"The frequency of the games we are having at the moment has taken its toll on an injury that is in a rehabilitative phase coming back.

"But it is a routine follow-up and it is not serious at this stage."

If Steve's ankle is sore, so is his pride, for he believes West Ham should definitely have won up at Blackburn on Saturday.

"I thought we thoroughly deserved it and with the chances we had in the second half we should have wrapped the game up," he says.

"We had four very good chances and it is always the way - when you miss the chances the opposition go and score.

"It wasn't a great first goal that we conceded and David was disappointed but you have got to rally on, which is what the lads did.

"We came back twice so it is a good point in that sense, but it has been a long time since we won we do have to get a win from somewhere."

Steve insists that, as the sequence of games without a win extends, the pressure mounts, and he adds: "The boys kept at it, but we move on to the next game, and the more we draw the more the onus is on us to win.

"The Charlton game is a massive game for us again - like all the remaining 18 will be.

"It is a vital one coming up, but we have got 18 games and 18 battles and hopefully we can get enough points in those games to secure Premiership status."