Grant staying positive

West Ham manager Avram Grant was in defiant mood despite his side facing the increasing prospect of dropping into the second tier.

Two goals from on-loan Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge and one from Lee Chung-yong handed Bolton an emphatic 3-0 victory at the Reebok Stadium. Grant watched from the stand as he started a touchline ban and looked disconsolate as his team were dismantled.

However he insisted: "I believe we can stay in this league. It is not every day you see our team perform as badly as they did in the first half. We have shown in the past we know how to recover and I am sure we will do so again in the last six games."

Grant's cause will not be helped by instances of his players arguing among themselves and he has promised to look into a spat between goalkeeper Robert Green and Mark Noble.

Grant said: "I do not know about it. I need to speak them. At half-time all we spoke about was trying to change the game."

The victory was just the boost Bolton manager Owen Coyle was looking for ahead of the FA Cup semi-final against Stoke next weekend.

He said: "We wanted to put pressure on Liverpool and Everton and the performance was outstanding.

"When you get the three points on the back of a performance like that it is very pleasing for everyone.

"We have been outstanding at home, very positive, and this result means we go into a massive game next week in good spirits.

"I always believed Daniel could play in the Premier League and he is enjoying being at the club."