Alan Curbishley is focusing on the positives as West Ham United travel to Derby County looking for a fifth game unbeaten on Saturday.
The club are comfortably in mid-table and through to the last eight of the Carling Cup, and the manager is keen to put the emphasis on those that have given their all in recent weeks - rather than worry about who may not be available for selection. "To flag that up is disrespectful to the players who've been playing," he said. "We've been digging in and picking up results. I just want the competition back, that strength in depth. I've been playing people out of position, like against Bolton and that's a big ask in the Premier League."
One player certain to miss out is midfielder Mark Noble, who has spent the week in a specialist clinic in Germany having a double hernia operation. "He's had this problem for a couple of months but he's not let on," Curbishley explained. "He's been going full pelt for over five or six months and only had two weeks off over the summer.
"You're dealing with a young lad and all he wants to do is play. It was only after the Coventry game that he declared how sore he was. It was probably a bit of naivety but he's a young player who wants to play every week. All going well, he has a chance of being fit for the Spurs game.
Looking ahead to Saturday, Curbishley revealed some encouraging team news and admitted being keen for his side to get back to winning ways on the road. "Craig Bellamy has rested this week," he said. "We're hoping he'll be back over the international break. We've had Freddie Ljungberg, Dean Ashton and James Collins back in training this week and they may have a chance of being in the squad.
"We beat Birmingham City and Reading then perhaps we were a little over-confident against Newcastle. After that we went to Aston Villa and gave ourselves a chance, as we did against Portsmouth. We'll go to Derby and give them every respect, even though they're down at the bottom of the table. We'll set our stall out and if we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance of getting the result."
To see more of the pre-match press conference, and much more from behind the scenes at Chadwell Heath, click here