With five consecutive Premier League defeats sending West Ham tumbling down the table, the East London side have put themselves back amongst the relegation scrap and things need to be improved swiftly.

Defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night saw the Hammers remain five points above the relegation zone and they can thank their lucky stars that Tottenham fought back to secure a victory against Swansea, as a victory for the Welsh side there would have put them in a much more precarious position.

With Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Middlesbrough below West Ham in the table all boasting a game in hand, Slaven Bilic’s men will be worried about their fate in the final two months of the season but the Hammers should have enough about them to fend off the threat of relegation.

The return of top scorer Michail Antonio plus Diafra Sakho from injury has come at the perfect time for the Hammers, who will need to get points on the board from their upcoming matches against Swansea City, Sunderland and Everton- with the first two games of that run being crucial.

Defeat against the Swans would see the Hammers hold just a two-point advantage over the Welsh side, and potentially the relegation zone itself, whilst a loss to Sunderland would be equally damaging.

Whilst the Hammers don’t have the form, they’re fortunate to hold one of the strongest looking side’s in the relegation battle and that should be enough to see them avoid the drop- especially as the likelihood is there’s only one place remaining, with Middlesbrough and Sunderland both looking doomed.

However, Bilic’s side face an extremely difficult end to the season as they’re still to travel to Stoke and have to host both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, two sides who will be battling it out to secure a top-four spot.

The strength of the Hammers squad will be crucial to turning things around and victory in this weekend’s clash with Swansea, which would see Bilic’s men secure an eight-point advantage over the relegation spots, should be enough to see the Hammers secure their Premier League status.

That said, West Ham really need to kick-on from this position and cannot afford any further slip-ups; especially against their relegation rivals over the coming weeks, with two matches that could decide their fate.

The Hammers will look towards the experienced heads of the likes of Mark Noble, Jose Fonte and Andy Carroll to steer them out of danger and the loyal home support will be equally important, as the East London side need to make the London Stadium as intimidating as the Boelyn Ground was previously.

All that is achievable though and this should end up going down as a sticky patch in West Ham’s history, rather than the club suffering the disastrous consequences of relegation to the second-tier.

All in all, there’s certainly reason for the Hammers to be worried but the fact that there is there worse sides in the division will help them- as long as they drag themselves out of the mud swiftly.