Lomy: I'll Be Fine

Steve Lomas insists he will be available for selection this weekend, despite reports that he would need an operation before the season was out.

He says the notion put about in one newspaper that he would miss the last two games was misleading, and explains: "It is not too bad. I have had an injection on my ankle to get through the two games so I will just take it from there.

"I actually said that I would need an operation in the summer and that is the case - but not straight away, which is what they quoted.

"It is not a case of putting myself through the mill, it is just that we want the wins, hopefully we can get that, and I can keep going."

Steve says he was more pleased with the points than the performance on Sunday against his old club, and adds: "We didn't play so well, I thought. The defence did but the midfield didn't get about our game.

"We kept going, though, and that is the main thing at the moment, to keep battling, and we got the result."

Steve and Joe Cole were, of course carrying knocks, but Steve says: "I don't think that was an excuse, we just didn't play well, and at the end of the day we will take playing badly in the next two games and us winning.

"I think there is no question we have to play better on Saturday, though, as Chelsea will be a sterner test - Frank Lampard and Petit will be in the middle so it will be a good game."

Steve knows that Frank will get some stick from the fans, but hopes it doesn't detract from the main task in hand.

"Don't get me wrong," he says, "I hope they make it intimidating - that is what we want and what we need - and hopefully they can give Frank a bit of stick at the end when we have won!"

As for Glenn Roeder's progress in hospital, Steve adds: "We have heard he is up and about so that is obviously good news."

Glenn's wife Faith spoke to Steve Lomas and Joe Cole - as club and team captain respectively - after paying a visit to them at Chadwell Heath in the build-up to the Manchester City game, and Steve says: "It is a difficult time for Faith and her family and it was very brave.

He says he will visit Glenn "as and when it is appropriate," adding: "But the mind is on professional matters at the moment to give him another boost with a win."

West Ham are looking for a second home win on the trot in order to continue the home revival that has occurred since the turn of the year.

The Hammers have lost just one of seven matches at Upton Park since then, following 11 home fixtures without a victory, while, incidentally, Chelsea have lost half of their games in this campaign away from Stamford Bridge since the new year.

The win over Middlesbrough followed hot on the heels of the Bolton defeat away, coming just two days later, and Steve says: "Mentally it was tough after the defeat by Bolton, but we all knew the importance of it - and it was a big relief when the goal went in.

"The lads did well to get themselves going again. You owe it to the club and the fans to put things right and you have your own professional pride - and I think the lads showed a lot of that against Middlesbrough.

"The motivation is to stay in the Premiership - there are six points to play for and we have to aim for 44 points."

Steve thinks the side is better equipped to stay up than the Manchester City side he went down with in the mid-90s, and he explains: "I think there is more quality in this team and I think we can do it."

As for the controversy at Bolton, with Ian Pearce getting sent off, he says: "I didn't really see it; a lot of their players baled in, which didn't help, but I think he was going to send Pearcey off anyway."

The FA are still deciding what action to take, if any over the alleged post-match incidents - something Bolton boss Sam Allardyce is apparently upset about, feeling that if any bans were to be handed out it should already have happened - but Steve says: "I didn't see it - I was in the changing room."