Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn believes West Ham United should use the UEFA Europa Conference League to turn their domestic season around.
The Hammers enter the round of 16 on Thursday with an 100 per cent record in Europe this season, winning all six of their group games to set a competition record.
But the Hammers have struggled in the Premier League, with the club one point above the drop zone having won the same amount of games in the league as they have in Europe - across 25 games.
READ MORE: Full West Ham squad available for Europa Conference League fixture against AEK Larnaca
“West Ham can't sacrifice the Europa Conference League because supporters want to get to cup finals," said Winterburn. "But that said, they also don't want to be relegated! It's so difficult because some supporters will feel they want to prioritise the league over the cup but that's such a hard thing to do. Because if you get knocked out in a cup competition that could affect your league form.
“David Moyes will look and try and rotate a little bit, but also, winning cup games can build confidence in the team, so I don't expect them to sacrifice the Conference League to try and secure their league position because I simply don't believe it works like that.”
The disappointing 2022/23 league campaign, and more recently the 4-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, has led to fans calling for David Moyes to lose his job.
football.london understands that the Scot retains the backing of the West Ham board and Winterburn, who spent three years with the Hammers, believes that the former Manchester United and Everton boss deserve time in east London, although he admits a few wins are needed to create a gap between them and the bottom three.
“I’ve always said that David Moyes deserved time at West Ham simply because of what he's achieved in the last couple of seasons, but I must admit, I listened to his interview after the defeat to Brighton and it sounded very downbeat," he told Paddy Power.
“He must somehow drive those players to some big performances in the next few weeks. They are right in the fight for relegation, and we can't hide from that fact. There’s not a lot of games left despite what people say and if you're down there now, you're down there for a reason and West Ham are right in it.
“They're in a big fight. They need to get two or three quick wins to create a bit of space between them and the relegation zone. I really do think that this season, we're going to go into the last game without knowing which three teams will go down but it's so hard to turn your form around when you're down there and David Moyes will be feeling the pressure.”
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