Junior Stanislas is hoping a strong showing for the reserves this week will put him in good stead for the Sunday afternoon trip to take on Everton.
The Hammers winger was the senior man on show in the 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa and came the closest to scoring when he hit the woodwork with a free-kick. Stanislas has no problem with going back to reserve-team football and was a model professional in difficult conditions.
"I thought the boys played well," he told WHUTV. "We got the ball down and played and all in all I thought we did all right. It is not difficult coming back to the reserves. It is different but when you have good players in the reserves it is not that hard to fit back into it.
"I am a bit more senior and perhaps the younger ones look to me but they are all good players and play their part. I have just to try and play my normal game."
Still only 20, Stanislas is more likely to be seen as part of Gianfranco Zola's plans and will hope to figure at Goodison Park. In the 2-1 home defeat by the Toffees back on 8 November, he came off the bench to spark a mini-Hammers revival, forcing Tony Hibbert into an own goal and going very close with another effort.
He knows this weekend's date will be an equally tough task. "We have got to go there looking to win but we can't concede easy goals," he said. "We have got to keep it tight and go from there.
"There is spirit among the boys. We are in there training and we know we are in a bad position in the league but everyone is there digging in and working hard. Sooner or later we are going to start picking up the points."