West Ham have 'confidence, form and mentality' to escape drop

[BBC]

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It is easy to look at the 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace on Monday as a negative result.

The chance to go four points clear of Tottenham and pile further pressure on them in the relegation battle was there to be taken, but I have always been a big believer in the saying: 'Respect the away point'.

The reality is a two-point cushion over Spurs means all we need to do is match their results over the next five games to secure survival. That is more than achievable.

Tottenham travel to already-relegated Wolves on Saturday, but that does not present the guaranteed victory many will be expecting.

We have seen many times before how relegated teams suddenly start picking up results. They play without pressure, with more freedom and some players even start playing better with their immediate futures at risk.

Meanwhile, despite Roberto de Zerbi showing signs of getting a bit of a tune out of his Spurs squad, we do not know just how damaging that last-minute Brighton equaliser at the weekend has been to their mentality. It was already fragile.