"We have put things in place to gee the supporters up and create the right atmosphere - but it all starts and ends with what the team does," he insists.
"I want the players to wear their shirts with the same pride that the supporters do.
"There is no doubt the unbelievable fans are a major factor - the best in the country - and we could be one of the top six clubs in the country.
"We are geared to being a Premiership club and that is what the staff, the fans, and the players all want."
Alan admits that if the side do start slowly, then the fans are likely to let them know.
"If that happens then it is a natural reaction to not starting well," he concedes, "and a lot of the fans have a horrendous journey to get to the ground so they are not in the best frame of mind anyway.
"It is emotional and city living can be like that; some may get road rage trying to fight through the traffic - it's not a place where you can have a nice stroll through the park before the game.
"You have to fight the underground or fight the traffic; people are emotional and they are passionate and if there was no passion it would mean it is not a big club.
"The most ardent West Ham fans will say that the frustrations of this season have got the better of us all - even I've been booing on the sidelines at times!
"The agenda I'll have facing me if we don't get promoted will be unpleasant.
"Our financial situation would put pressure on me to manoeuvre my squad; if we stay in the first division we have to make sure we don't get ourselves into a further mess.
"Whenever you are a manager you need to win certain games sometimes to keep your job; it is not on that scale but, in terms of the importance to the club, it is the biggest game of my career."
"It gets to me at times when I am not pleased, but all of that is the price of being at such a big club - the fans are passionate because of that.
"Let's hope we can do justice to the fans and the legands that have graced Upton Park in the past.
"The simple fact is that we need to score on Tuesday and we need to win - there is no middle ground.
"1-0 was not the end of the world but it would have been very difficult if they had scored a second on Saturday.
"Ipswich played well, took their chance well, and, to be fair, had two or three other chances."
As for how the visitors will play, Alan adds:
"I can't second guess Joe Royle; it is a big decision for Ipswich because do they protect the lead and sit tight, looking to hit us on the break as they did Saturday, or do they push on?
"The last 20 minutes will be crucial because that is when the urgency kicks in."
Extra time will be followed by penalties if it is all square after open play - away goals do not count extra this year - and Alan adds:
"If it goes to penalties I have every confidence in Steve Bywater; the lad has done very well for us this season, but we also need our strikers to be at their best."
One of whom, of course, could still be on the right hand side on Tuesday night.
"Marlon Harewood's best performances, and most goals scored for us, have been on the right and his attitude has been first class," says Alan, who concludes:
"Unless you have played in these games at such a high level you don't appreciate the pressure there is."
Don Hutchison missed out on the first leg with a calf problem but could return, while Bobby Zamora should be fit for Upton Park too.
"Bobby was feeling his hamstring and that is why he went off on Saturday," says Alan.
"If he had scored with a chance early doors, who is to say he wouldn't have got a hat trick?
"No one was more disappointed than him."
Rufus Brevett will be in the squad once more, but is considered unlikely to play.