Moyes says West Ham are ready to scrap for survival

David Moyes believes his West Ham players are ready to fight for their Premier League lives.

The Hammers spent the international break in the relegation zone and face a so-called ‘six-pointer’ against rock-bottom Southampton on Sunday.

Their domestic form is in stark contrast to their run in Europe, having reached the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League with 10 straight wins.

Moyes, who retains the backing of the club’s owners despite their struggles, is confident his side can steer away from trouble.

“Yes, I do, I think the players are ready,” he said. “I think we’re in a good frame of mind and we’re ready to go and hopefully, go on and try and pick up the points to make sure that we’re not near the bottom end of the league.

“Our results in Europe have been really, really good – 10 matches unbeaten – and that’s kept us going a little bit, kept the belief.

“We’re certainly not acting behind the scenes like we are a team in the wrong part of the league. I see the players around the club in good spirits and that’s partly because of our results in Europe.”

The congested bottom half means just four points separate Southampton and Crystal Palace in 12th, and Moyes does not know how many points it will take to secure safety.

“I’ve not worked out the points, but I’m looking to see that there’s nine or 10 teams who could be involved in the bottom end of the table,” he added.

“We are one of them, unfortunately, we hoped that we wouldn’t be, but we are. We have to find a way of making sure that we’re safe come the end of the season and I’m sure we will be.”

Moyes will assess the fitness of defender Nayef Aguerd, who returned from international duty with a “grumbly hip”, and striker Gianluca Scamacca who has a knee injury.

Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is fit again after a fractured cheekbone.