Alan Curbishley knows what would leave everyone connected with West Ham United satisfied when full time rolls around at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday.
"Nothing would please me more than we get a decent result, one or two of the players show what they can do and we have a decent weekend because we have not had a decent weekend for some time," he said of Derby County's visit. The manager is not taking anything for granted against Paul Jewell's already-relegated side, especially in due consideration of last weekend's "dreadful performance" up at Bolton Wanderers when the home side deserved their 1-0 victory.
"We knew what we were going into [last week]. It was a do or die game for Bolton as we were in that situation last year but for 46 minutes we didn't cope, we just couldn't get near it and that was credit to Bolton. They were quicker, sharper, stronger, more physical and we couldn't deal with it and they scored a typical Bolton goal ... We had a couple of chances to equalise and the whole thing might have got turned on its head."
Curbishley hopes his men fare better in front of goal this Saturday, as they did in the 5-0 win at Derby last November - a match he recalls as a "strange game" that turned on the opening strike. He said: "We went with a weakened side. We lost George McCartney very early on but once we scored, it opened up quite a bit. I think that is what Paul Jewell has been saying. The reports I have had, they have been competing in a lot of games. They have got beat 1-0 at Everton and they were in the game, they got beat 1-0 at Middlesbrough, and they were in the game."
Derby have eleven points so far and just one win all season. They need to get five more in order to pass Sunderland's unwanted claim to fame for having the lowest points haul in a single Premier League season - 15 in the 2005/06 campaign. Curbishley added: "I should imagine they are coming to Upton Park, have looked at our recent record and said 'we will give this a go, we have got a chance'. I don't expect anything else. It is going to be a tough old game for us."