Noble: We’re missing Upton Park

MARK NOBLE has admitted West Ham’s players are having trouble settling in to their new home and miss Upton Park.

Their dismal start to life at the London Stadium continued on Sunday, when they were beaten 3-0 by Southampton.

It was the Hammers’ fourth successive league defeat, leaving them mired in the bottom three and facing the real threat of a relegation battle.

West Ham have now lost three of their last four games at their new home, which they moved in to last summer. The settling-in period is taking longer than expected and manager Slaven Bilic is coming under increasing pressure.

It is a far cry from the intimidating atmosphere of the Boleyn Ground, which skipper Noble believes was worth 20 points a season.

Noble said: “The move has been harder than we thought and we’re missing Upton Park but it’s no excuse.

“Confidence is low and you can only say a certain amount of times that we are waiting for a break or waiting for this or that. You make your own luck. We just aren’t playing well the moment and we need liven ourselves up.

“At Upton Park you craved the games there because you knew they would guarantee you 20 points a season.

“The hard thing is that we don’t know why it’s going wrong. We just can’t buy a goal and we keep shipping them. That has to mean something.

“Of course we are sticking together. We have to. In this league, you don’t have any choice.

“If you don’t stick together and you let the atmosphere in the dressing room deteriorate at to then you will pay the ultimate price.

“I’ve played in this league a few years and I’ve been through it many a time before. I’ve been in worse positions than this before with worse squads and we’ve still managed to dig ourselves out of it.”

They will not have long to wait to attempt that climb from danger because they are at home again on Saturday against Middlesbrough, a match many will feel that the Hammers have to win.

MOVING PAIN: Noble says West Ham are unsettled at new home