Benni McCarthy has urged his West Ham United team-mates to play as if their lives depend on it against Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
The South Africa striker was as disappointed as anybody with Monday's 3-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at Liverpool, and is determined to make up for a frustrating collective display at Anfield this weekend.
With three matches remaining, the 32-year-old knows West Ham's Premier League destiny is still in their own hands.
"We have three games left that we can win - Wigan is like a life and death situation, then we go to Fulham, who have the UEFA Europa League to worry about, then we have Manchester City on the final day. Hopefully we won't leave it until then, though."
One of the few bright spots at Anfield was the performance of the 1,500 travelling supporters, who out-sang the home fans from the first whistle until the last - something McCarthy appreciated greatly.
"They are the motivation factor. That is what you come and play football for. The fans are there for you and you have to give it your all for them. When they have been brilliant, like they have been, it gives us that extra bit to win those games.
As for the team's performance at Liverpool, the experienced striker said the Hammers need to keep their focus and also a bit of luck to overcome Wigan.
"The worst thing about Monday was that we were getting warned - 40 per cent of Premier League goals are scored from set-pieces. They showed a little bit more experience. They got two free-kicks and took them quickly and got rewarded for them.
"When you are two goals down at Anfield, after starting so brightly and looking like we had got them where we wanted them, there is not too much you can do about it.
"It's just about concentration, really. Everything has been bad luck. We started off well and then conceded very unfortunately, and then nothing seemed to go for us. Anything hits them anywhere and it goes in. They say you create your own luck, but there was not a lot of luck for us."
McCarthy may not start against Roberto Martinez's side, but he has called on the eleven players who do to take the game to Wigan from the kick-off.
"After a disappointment like that, the best thing to do is to attack the game like we did against Everton and Sunderland - coming out really firing. We are really playing for our lives at the end of the day, so we need to go out there firing on all cylinders and get the crowd on our side.
"With the way the fans are at Upton Park, other teams shouldn't be coming here to win games. Hopefully we can reward them with a win.
"We really need to beat teams around us like Wigan, who are still in our region. Those are the sort of games we have to win."