West Ham must use home form to their advantage, Fabianski

Lukasz Fabianski believes West Ham’s home form will be crucial if they are to steer clear of relegation this season.

The Hammers lifted themselves out of the bottom three and up to 14th after winning the basement battle with Southampton 1-0.

They are unbeaten in their last five matches at the London Stadium, with three wins and two draws, and host Newcastle on Wednesday looking to put more daylight between themselves and the drop zone.

“If you look at the table, one win doesn’t really do too much for you,” said goalkeeper Fabianski.

“It’s nice to be out of the relegation zone but each week is so different, you see teams in the bottom three and then suddenly jumping up to 13th or 14th.

“I don’t remember any other season like that, so that’s very interesting for the supporters. We just have to focus on every single game.

“The next one is very important as well, it’s a big one again at home and we have to use our home form to our advantage.

“We have to make sure we keep getting points at home and hopefully we’ll be out of this situation sooner rather than later.”

Fabianski was back in the West Ham goal after surgery on a fractured cheekbone, and he kept Southampton at bay with saves from Romain Perraud and Romeo Lavia as they held on to the lead given to them by Nayef Aguerd’s first-half header.

“It is never nice to be out of the team, especially through injury,” added the former Poland international.

“Luckily enough there was not that much damage to my cheekbone. It was pretty straightforward surgery.

“I have to praise the surgeon as I think he did an amazing job and at the same time the recovery was very small. The international break helped as well and I’m very happy to be back.”

Life does not get any easier for Saints, who remain rock bottom and host in-form Manchester City next weekend.

“I am not going to focus on relegation or the table, I am going to focus on the things I can control,” said boss Ruben Selles.

“I know the other teams are playing and they can win or lose, but I can affect nothing at all. All I can affect is to prepare my team for the next match and elevate them for that period to compete against any team and Manchester City are as good as anyone in the Premier League.

“That is my focus. We have been in a complicated situation for the whole year. Thinking about that only takes energy away from thinking about what is important for me, which is my players.”