Far from feeling inhibited by tension in matches, Joe, whose game naturally depends to a large extent on confidence, says: "Even more so you enjoy them. The victories are sweeter, and because the games are so important the games are exciting to play in.
"The mood is very good. We are on a high, a good run, and if we win the game on Saturday it will really put us up there amongst about four clubs if results go our way. We have got to win and put ourselves within touching distance of those clubs.
"It is probably going to go to the wire and we don't want to be the ones that go down at the end of it, so we are all pulling in the right direction."
He insists he and his colleagues are looking no further than the battle to retain Premiership status, despite what some would have you believe, and adds: "We are concentrating on keeping West Ham in the Premier League and everything else is on the back burner now."
And he insists the captaincy is not a burden in these difficult times, adding in an upbeat message: "We are all responsible, we are all professional players, and we are all ready for the fight with six games to go now.
"If us and Bolton keep winning we will be sucking other clubs into it so we just have to keep our form up and hope the others drop a few points."
As for the draw at Southampton at the weekend, he adds: "It was a good point to get at a tough place to go to against a side really on form with their cup semi-final to come, so it was not disappointing.
"We know what we have to do, which is to win games and pick up points away from home - and we feel we are capable of doing that."