Scott Parker knows that victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on New Year's Day would give West Ham United's Barclays Premier League survival hopes a huge boost.
The Hammers and Wolves both enter this Saturday's match inside the bottom three and the two-time Hammer of the Year believes it is vital the hosts collect a three-point haul against Mick McCarthy's men.
"I think that's exactly what it is - must win. There's no hiding the fact that we go into this game and we have to see it that we have to win this game. If we're going to get out of it, we're going to have to beat the teams around us and clearly Wolves are a team we need to take three points from.
"It's always good when you're picking up points, winning games and getting draws here and there. The Premier League is difficult, as we've seen, and anyone can beat anyone on their day so it's going to be a difficult game but one we're looking forward to and one we feel we can take three points from.
"I said a couple of weeks ago that every single game is going to be crucial for us this season. No matter what game it is, it's a game we need to win and a big game for us."
While Parker knows the weekend fixture is important, he pointed to West Ham's recent run of three unbeaten matches - including two away from home - as reason for optimism.
"I think we came into the Christmas period with winnable games and, when you look at it, we've picked up four points and we're undefeated going into today's game. If we can pick up a win then we'll have taken seven points and that will be a really good Christmas.
"I don't know if the pressure has eased because this is such a difficult league and everyone has been picking up points. We just need to stay along with it and pick up some results, which I think we can definitely do.
"We went to Blackburn and got a result and we went to Fulham and scored three goals. On Tuesday, playing just hours after the Fulham game against an Everton side who were much fresher than us, we looked solid and picked up a result which was very pleasing."