Newcastle United will be desperate to get over the 6-0 humiliation handed out by Liverpool last weekend, when they take on West Ham United in their English Premier League game Saturday.
The Magpies are still very much in a relegation battle, with both Aston Villa and Sunderland climbing above them in the table. All three teams are locked on 37 points, five more than third bottom Wigan, who have a game in hand.
Alan Pardew has been under immense pressure over the past week, but will hope to put things right with a win against his former club West Ham at Upton Park.
"I certainly didn't expect to be in this position at the start of the year, going there, but that's where we are and we have to accept that," Pardew said. "I'd have liked it to be under different circumstances.
"We are where we are so the most important thing is the performance and a reaction to Saturday's game. It's a place I know very, very well of course and it's a terrific place to play football; a passionate place, and a couple of my former colleagues are there.
"Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, James Collins -- they've got a few there who all served me well and I'm looking forward to seeing them."
Pardew also shot down rumors of disharmony within the club after their 6-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend at St James' Park.
"We're pulling together, trying to get a result, and the fact that we have a lot of French players and some language difficulty has been kind of torn up and made to be something else," he added. "There's no problem and we go to the next game.
"If you think, because the players are from foreign countries or some of our players are not bothered, it's just ridiculous. Of course they're bothered. Our frustrations and our professionalism are on the line but we have the destiny of ourselves in our own hands."
Fullback Mathieu Debuchy is suspended after picking up a red card against Liverpool, but skipper Fabricio Coloccini is expected to return from injury for Newcastle. Massadio Haidara is a doubt, while Tim Krul, Davide Santon and Sylvain Marveaux, and Moussa Sissoko are ruled out.
West Ham will be without defenders James Tomkins and George McCartney.
To watch West Ham vs Newcastle Live Stream for U.S. viewers, click here.
Expected lineups: West Ham: Jaaskelainen; Demel, Reid, Collins, O'Brien; Diame, Noble; Cole, Nolan, Jarvis; Carroll.
Newcastle: Elliot; Simpson, Taylor, Coloccini, Yanga-Mbiwa; Tiote, Cabaye; Ben Arfa, Gouffran, Guttierez; Cisse.
Prediction: 1-0 to Newcastle
