James Collins believes the Hammers have shown good resilience to dig in and claim points amid their injury problems in recent weeks.
Shorn of several attacking players, goals have dried up for the Hammers as winter has set in, not helping their cause as they aim to end an eight-game wait for victory against Southampton on Monday.
Whilst victories have not been forthcoming, the Hammers have been hard to beat with six of those eight ending all-square and Collins says that the steady accumulation of points has been important.
"I'm not making excuses, but if you take Vardy and Mahrez out of Leicester's team, they won't be top of the league," he explained.
"That's pretty much what's happened to us with our attacking players.
"[The good thing is] We're not losing games, we're picking up points. We'd have liked to get three on Saturday but we'll take a point away from home."
West Ham were in a winning position at Villa on Boxing Day, having taken the lead through Aaron Cresswell's 45th minute strike, so Collins was disappointed to end up with a draw on that occasion.
"It's disappointing really, after going 1-0 up and playing well in the first half," he admitted. "Second half we should have been better and they got on top a little bit.
"We were expecting a tough second half, with their position they're in and in front of their own fans, but we have to be better than that. We got the goal we've been looking for the last couple of weeks, so to draw is disappointing."
Shorn of several attacking players, goals have dried up for the Hammers as winter has set in, not helping their cause as they aim to end an eight-game wait for victory against Southampton on Monday.
Whilst victories have not been forthcoming, the Hammers have been hard to beat with six of those eight ending all-square and Collins says that the steady accumulation of points has been important.
"I'm not making excuses, but if you take Vardy and Mahrez out of Leicester's team, they won't be top of the league," he explained.
"That's pretty much what's happened to us with our attacking players.
"[The good thing is] We're not losing games, we're picking up points. We'd have liked to get three on Saturday but we'll take a point away from home."
West Ham were in a winning position at Villa on Boxing Day, having taken the lead through Aaron Cresswell's 45th minute strike, so Collins was disappointed to end up with a draw on that occasion.
"It's disappointing really, after going 1-0 up and playing well in the first half," he admitted. "Second half we should have been better and they got on top a little bit.
"We were expecting a tough second half, with their position they're in and in front of their own fans, but we have to be better than that. We got the goal we've been looking for the last couple of weeks, so to draw is disappointing."