Points the point for Grant


Avram Grant has said he is fully focused on the task at hand - getting more points starting tonight and guiding West Ham United up the Barclays Premier League table.

While much of the pre-match debate before the visit of West Bromwich Albion has been on the issue of controversial calls, the manager was eager to just get on with two big home fixtures in four days. "It doesn't matter about referees or not," he said. "We need points and that is what I am concentrating on. In life I don't think about what happened before."

Grant knows his team face a tough test against the Baggies, and has been impressed with the "very good" way they play football on their return to the top flight. Equally, he has been happy that his own side have kept to their attacking instincts and is looking to them to maintain the "style of football we want to keep" while adding points to the performances.

Injuries to Manu da Costa and Mark Noble have complicated matters in recent days but the manager has been impressed with the players that have come into the side. Kieron Dyer is one of those and Grant hinted that the pacy midfielder could be involved on Wednesday night.

"He's better, so we will see," he said. "He has a good chance to play. It's good because this season we have been suffering lot injuries especially with players that were in a good shape like Thomas Hitzlsperger or Mark Noble. Da Costa is another example as well.

"We need points. But if anyone thinks that someone needs to remind us and the players that we need to take points then they are wrong. We have a squad that can handle this and we will do it.

"I don't think we deserve to be on the bottom. But we are on the bottom of the league and we are trying to find the right way to take the points. If you saw our [drawn] games you could not complain if we had won them. But the fact is we have seven points and we need points. If we continue to do what we have until now then we will get them."

Grant acknowledged his team allowed a two-goal lead to slip on Saturday at Birmingham City but backed his players to learn from that - as they had from other setbacks this campaign. "You did not see us do the same things twice. If we have made a mistake, we have improved. We are improving slowly but improving.

"We deserve more points. But the word 'deserve' is not in the dictionary."