Ex-West Ham striker Tony Cottee fears that his former club could get “sucked into” a relegation battle if they don’t secure a “couple of wins”.

The pundit was not impressed by the Hammers’ performance against Brentford at the weekend, and he was particularly concerned with how they started the game:

“I was there on Saturday, I went to the game and the first half was dreadful, it really was the poorest they’ve played under Graham Potter. To be fair to him, he made the three changes and all three players made a real difference.”

“If Kudus scores the one that’s cut across to him to get them back on level terms, I think West Ham would have won the game. It wasn’t quite as bad in the second half but the first half was poor.”

“It’s a big job, there’s no two ways about it, they’ve just got limp over the line because they’re sort of flirting with relegation at the moment and if they don’t get a couple of wins, they’ll get sucked into it.”

West Ham face a trip to the Emirates

Based on the club’s current form, that elusive victory is unlikely to come in their next fixture against London rivals Arsenal.

The Gunners are involved in a title race and they haven’t lost at home in the Premier League this season, winning 8 and drawing 4 of their 12 matches. Potter’s side are, therefore, not expected to pull off a shock result.

How close are the Irons to the relegation places?

Heading into this weekend’s games, West Ham are 10 points above Ipswich Town who currently sit 18th. That means there are no immediate concerns about the club’s top flight status.

However, it is fair to say that the team’s form has not improved as much as supporters would have anticipated since Potter’s arrival. As Cottee says, the hope will be that they can limp over the line before revamping the squad this summer.

Read our exclusive interview with ex-Premier League official Peter Walton who discusses why Chelsea’s equaliser against West Ham stood