Lukasz Fabianski calls for cool heads as West Ham prepare for pivotal week in their survival bid

Lukasz Fabianski admits the pressure is on West Ham ahead of a defining week in their battle against the drop.

The Hammers will watch on nervously on Thursday evening as a win for either Aston Villa or Bournemouth could pull them back to being just one point from the relegation zone after defeat to Burnley on Wednesday.

David Moyes's side peppered the Burnley goal with 22 shots but could not break their stubborn resistance, while a lapse at the back allowed Jay Rodriguez to score a first half goal against the run of play.

The West Ham boss has described both Saturday's trip to Norwich, where a win for the Hammers could relegate the hosts and all but secure their own safety, and next Friday's clash with relegation rivals Watford as must win, and Fabianski is calling for cool heads despite the pressure.

“All the teams in this position have this in the back of their minds about getting away from the relegation zone and every single game feels like an FA Cup final where there are a lot of things at stake," said Fabianski. "That is always somewhere there in your mind, so you have to remain calmer in those situations and believe in your abilities, in your game plan and stay cool in tricky moments.

“If you do that, you are able to put in really good performances.”

Moyes was left ruing another refereeing decision going against his side as Michael Oliver only booked James Tarkowski for a late, studs up challenge on Jarrod Bowen, with VAR not even checking for serious foul play.

The club have queried the Premier League over a number of decisions recently, but a baffled Moyes concede there was little point in bothering this time because of the disappointing explanations received over previous decisions.

Fabianski says the Hammers must put all frustration over decisions and their profligacy in front of goal behind them and see the visit to Carrow Road as an opportunity to secure their future.

“We realise our situation and there is no point being negative and thinking last night’s game was just bad luck,” said Fabianski. “When you put all the things together, we were unlucky when it came to taking some of our chances.

“There were some good moments, there were some bad moments, but we have to see Norwich as another great opportunity to get to a strong position in the table and further away from the bottom three, and that’s what we’ll try to do.”

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