Lukasz Fabianski has warned that West Ham are far from out of the woods, despite Sunday’s vital victory over Southampton easing the pressure on manager David Moyes.
The Hammers climbed out of the relegation zone and up to 14th after Nayef Aguerd’s first goal for the club secured a 1-0 win over the division’s bottom side.
Moyes went into the game with uncertainty over his future as reports once again suggested a defeat could see him lose his job but, as in similar must-win fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Everton already this year, his players responded with a positive result.
During the game at the London Stadium, news broke of Brendan Rodgers’s sacking at Leicester, the Northern Irishman departing after a run of five defeats in six games.
That decision leaves West Ham as one of only two sides in the bottom half not to have changed manager this term, along with Forest, the club’s board having been strong in their public backing of Moyes and trusted the Scot to see off the threat of relegation.
Despite rising to their highest League position since early November, however, the Irons remain just one point outside the relegation zone and goalkeeper Fabianski has urged his team-mates to kick on when Newcastle visit in midweek.
“If you look at the table, one win doesn’t really do too much for you,” the Pole said. “It’s nice to be out of the relegation zone but each week is so different, you see teams in the bottom three and then suddenly jumping up to 13th or 14th.
“I don’t remember any other season like that so that’s very interesting for the supporters. We just have to focus on every single game. The next one is very important as well, it’s a big one again at home and we have to use our home form to our advantage.
“We have to make sure we keep getting points at home and hopefully we’ll be out of this situation sooner rather than later.”
Aguerd’s goal, headed in from Thilo Kehrer’s free-kick, came midway through the first half after a spell in which the home crowd threatened to turn on their team, with jeers of frustration at an apparent hesitancy in their play. Fabianski, however, defended his side’s approach.
“I think it is pretty normal and natural when you have two teams who are in this position in the table and playing such an important game,” he said. “You know the meaning, size, importance of the game is much bigger than before and always they become a bit cagey, maybe you play with the handbrake on and you don’t want to go crazy.
“It is always a bit tense. It will be tense until the last game of the season but luckily enough we held our nerve in a good manner.”
