Peter: We Can Do It

Peter Grant is determined to help crack the home 'hoodoo' - and insists the players are there to do it.

Peter has put his celebrations of the Wolves win behind him after joining the club just a couple of days prior to it and is now setting his sights on beating Rotherham - and getting the home form on track.

"It is only the start hopefully and we know it is important we start winning the home games but we thoroughly deserved it on Sunday - and hopefully we can continue that form," he says.

"The expectation here is to play well and win; they will accept you winning but want you to win in style - and hopefully we can do that.

"What a fantastic arena it is to play, you want to bring players in that can perform at places like this, and the sooner we get our players thinking like that the quicker we will be very difficult to stop.

"You know the type of player you are bringing in and then it is a case of putting ideas into their minds.

"The bottom line is that you want everyone to be fighting for possession so they are desperate to get out and play.

"You look at the strikers and the midfield players you have here and the defenders, and you think to yourself 'why are we getting so many poor results at home?'

"It is obviously about the expectation and the fallout of the last two years when we have struggled a bit at home.

"We have got to get the players to have a belief in their own abilities; we know teams are coming here to try and get the fans to turn on us and we have to get rid of that monkey.

"If they want to stand off us we have to think quicker and move the ball quicker and work harder - and hopefully the ability is going to take over.

"They have definitely got the ability to do that and with a couple coming back from injury and the new boys coming in hopefully everyone is going to be desperate to play in the team.

"Sometimes it is not going to be the best players out there, it is going to be the ones that can handle playing at Upton Park.

"It is very difficult when things are not going well for you and I understand that, but when you have 35,000 people on your side there is not a better feeling, and that is what you have to try and get back.

"Okay, maybe it has been a wee bit edgy but once you have got them on your side, what a fantastic place to play.

"If we get to the end of this dark tunnel and get this place rocking - and the support is a big part of it, you have to get them onside - then if we do that we will be a very difficult force to reckon with.

"You want options because you want people to be playing well to stay in the side; we want players to play with freedom within the team framework and you hope to keep everyone fit.

"Other clubs will be looking at us and saying 'they are building a squad there that is capable of putting out two or three teams really' - and it will be difficult for teams to work out ho we are going to play.

"The game of football doesn't change but the personalities may change - the aim, though, is to win the game and play well.

"We have to pick the right 16 and you have got to have a mixture."

The bench may have a bit more experience on it than at Wolves, when Mark Nole and Chris Cohen were on standby, and Peter adds:

"The 16 year olds we had on the bench at Wolves have got to keep working at their training and when they are in the reserves they have to try and be the best."

Peter seemed relatively calm on the touchline at Wolves, and he explains:

"There is no doubt that will come but I am always comfortable when the team is doing what you ask of them, because if they are in control that is fine.

"But I am as animated as the next man because I am desperate to play well and I want us to be pushing in the right direction with enthusiasm and desire to do well.

"But hopefully you have done most of your talking before they go on the pitch and they have taken things on board that you have asked them to do - and if they do that the way they did on Sunday I will be delighted.

"It is the bottom rung, there is a hell of a long way to go, and there will be no stone unturned to make us into a success.

"We are aiming to get into the Premiership and there is a lot of football between now and May.

"It is an old football cliche but it is one game at a time but the name West Ham doesn't do it on its own - you have to do it on the pitch."

As for the potential debutants at the weekend, Adam Nowland and Nigel Reo-Coker, Peter says:

"Both have done very well and training has been excellent; they are young and enthusiastic and want to make sure they impress their team mates so training is lifted up a yard and that is a big thing.

"I think training has to be the same tempo as a game that you train the way you play and prepare for your training the way you do for a match.

"If you do that and all of your eggs are in one basket I think that is going to run for you."