SAVING SLAVEN A NOBLE CAUSE

SLAVEN BILIC faces a make-or-break fortnight after Friday’s 5-0 FA Cup Third Round thumping by Manchester City.

West Ham’s next two games are against Crystal Palace, managed by former Hammers boss Sam Allardyce, and Middlesbrough.

Failure to pick up at least three points in those games could spell the end of the Croatian’s reign.

In the wake of the City drubbing, Mark Noble (right) has called on the players to give their all to save Bilic.

The longserving midfielder said: “It’s up to us to scrap for the manager and win ugly.

“Every team wants to go out and play the way Manchester City did and win 5-0 but life isn’t like that.

“We all need to dig in and fight to win games.”

West Ham went into Friday’s game on the back of Premier League defeats against Leicester TONY STENSON and Man United – leaving them just five points above the relegation zone. And Noble added: “Every manager is under pressure. If you don’t win two or three games you’re under pressure. That’s the nature of the game. “You can imagine how I feel right now. We knew it was going to be tough against City but they were just too good on the night, it’s as simple as that. “They were able to rest a few players against Burnley and still got a result and they were just too much for us. “But at this stage, I’d rather lose in the cup than the league. “Now we have got two big games coming up when we must get points. “We need two or three bodies to come in during the transfer window in order to help the squad out and provide a bit more competition.”