Avram Grant wants his players to channel the hurt from the 3-0 loss at Bolton Wanderers into next Saturday's crunch meeting with Aston Villa.
The Hammers had been on a high until half-time the previous weekend against Manchester United, but have since conceded seven goals without reply and lost two successive fixtures. The manager is determined to show this was out of character with the resurgent side that went to Tottenham Hotspur on the back of home wins against Liverpool and Stoke City.
"We should feel low because we lost a very important game and like myself, the players should be frustrated and unhappy," admitted Grant. "But this should give us energy and make us stronger for our next game against Aston Villa. We will learn from this.
"The players are very committed to the team and we can win three of our last six games. I think we need to get to 41 points. Every game is hard on paper but we have beaten Liverpool and drawn with Tottenham Hotspur."
Grant will have plenty to ponder. He should see Jack Collison get a second reserve-team run-out on Tuesday night against Villa's second string at Bishop's Stortford as well as his other fringe players, all of whom will want to stake a claim for inclusion in the run-in.
He will also hope Matthew Upson and Scott Parker overcome the wear and tear of a long season that led to their substitutions at Bolton, while Kieron Dyer is back from his loan at Ipswich Town.
"We need to look at the whole picture," the manager reminded. "We have played well over the second half of the season and we have won our battles and everything was going well. We must learn from Saturday.
"I still believe that we can stay in the league. What you saw in the first half at Bolton is not something that you see every day in our team. It was an exception."
This coming weekend will also see the club marking a Best of British occasion, with SBOBET supplying Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research flags with a patriotic feel and plenty of national pride on view. The manager knows the supporters will be up for it and is backing his men to do the job against a Villa side five points ahead in the table.
"The fans have been great and they've pushed us really hard as we've climbed up from very last place in the league. We are not far from safety and we all need to go forward together for the next game. We have always shown we have come back well from every bad situation we have had this season and we will do it again."