West Ham United is lodged in the middle of the Premier League standings and cannot afford to lose out on points in Saturdays match against Southampton.
The team has played well at home, but lost to Arsenal on Oct. 6, 3-1, for their first league loss at home.
"We've coped with the Barclays Premier League very well over the start of our season, also I think we had a group of fixtures that were less challenging than Southampton's,'' said Sam Allardyce to ESPNFC.com.
The club lost more than just the match on that day, with Ricardo Vaz Te getting injured after colliding with another player. He had shoulder surgery and will miss at least three months while he rehabs.
"West Ham United can confirm that Ricardo Vaz Te underwent successful shoulder surgery on Monday evening as he continues his recovery from the dislocation he suffered during the Barclays Premier League fixture against Arsenal on 6 October," the club said in a statement.
Allardyce knows the loss of Vaz Te will hurt, but also said that other players will have an opportunity to prove themselves.
"We've got some good players ready to step up in place. Matt Taylor has been there and there are others in the squad that haven't quite played as much such as Gary O'Neil,'' he told the club's official website."
He also spoke about playing at home.
''We were disappointed by Arsenal, but our confidence, particularly here at home is very very high and I hope we can see the same level of performance that I've seen, particularly against Sunderland, Fulham, and Aston Villa at the start of the season," said Allardyce.
West Ham has been solid defensively, but has scored only eight goals in seven matches. Southampton has been outmatched this year, allowing 20 goals and only scoring twelve. So far the team has only earned four points in seven matches.
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