David Moyes had laid down a challenge to his West Ham United ahead of a "very big" Premier League showdown against Nottingham Forest.
Moyes wants to see "who's up for the fight" after the Hammers slipped into the relegation zone over the weekend. They are third from bottom following Sunday's 2-0 defeat to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Bournemouth and Everton have both gone above West Ham with victories at the weekend, cranking up the pressure at the bottom of the table. Next up for Moyes' team is the visit of Forest to the London Stadium on Saturday.
READ MORE: Declan Rice fires Nottingham Forest warning ahead of West Ham clash
READ MORE: Nottingham Forest's Lewis O'Brien wanted by three clubs as Blackburn Rovers saga rolls on
Steve Cooper's Reds are 13th - five points clear of the Hammers - following their unlikely 1-1 draw against reigning champions Manchester City at the City Ground. Chris Wood's late equaliser earned Forest a point after Bernardo Silva had opened the scoring for Pep Guardiola's side, who missed a string of chances.
Speaking about West Ham's current predicament after just one league in in 11 matches, Moyes said of his players: “They’ve been here before. I think most of them will know how to handle it (being in the relegation zone).
“I have not even thought about it yet but I do know I will be looking to see the players and to see the colour of their eyes in this next week. You can imagine what the colour of mine will be.
"The players have been challenged now. Let's see who's up for the fight."
Asked how big the Forest game now is, Moyes replied: "Very big, very big. Every game is big, today’s was big, every game is big. If you’re trying to make the word big sound bigger than it should be, I don’t know if I can do that. Ultimately, we treat every game with the same level, but I totally get your message."
Giving his assessment of the Hammers’ performance against Tottenham, Moyes said: “I think there was some good stuff in the first half and I enjoyed watching us, I thought we did OK. Start of the second half we started poorly, slowly, made a couple of mistakes that we got away with, and I think we gave Tottenham encouragement to come on to us a bit more.
“It’s a poor defeat for us. We expected to try and get something from the game, but a couple of defensive lapses in the end were probably the difference.
“I’m trying to find ways of getting more goals, more shots, more attempts at goal. Jarrod Bowen has a half-chance after they score where we could have maybe made it 1-1 and maybe started to change the look of it, but we’re not making enough chances.
“We keep going. We’ve been feeling a bit better about our performances, and even today, there’ll be lots of things you’ll say wasn’t good, which I’ll agree with, but there’s bits of it I want to build on. They have been challenged, let’s see who’s up for the fight.”
What are your predictions for the West Ham game? Tell us in the comments section
READ NEXT:
- Piers Morgan takes brutal swipe at Man City as he celebrates Nottingham Forest heroics
- Jack Grealish sums up Man City draw against Nottingham Forest in one word
- 'Fireworks' - National media deliver verdict on Nottingham Forest's draw with Man City
- Pep Guardiola addresses explosive reaction to Erling Haaland incident vs Nottingham Forest
- The latest Nottingham Forest news in one place
