West Ham look to continue their survival bid by pulling off an unlikely result away to league leaders Arsenal on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).

Despite enduring a winless sequence dating back to October 23 in the league Hammers are hoping to build on a mini-revival which has seen them lose just once in their last six.

And after putting in one of their best performances of the season in last week's 2-2 draw against high-flying Newcastle, Hammers may well try to carry on attacking in a bid to pull clear of danger.

Manager Glenn Roeder certainly hinted as much in his assessment of the Magpies match.

"We needed that third goal because we knew Newcastle were very dangerous going forward," he said.

"It was clear that we could not sit back on our lead because we thought they would come out fighting.

"We got behind them quite a few times, but unfortunately the crosses weren't quite accurate enough and we couldn't get people on the end of them."

And the reputation of Arsenal's freescoring side is unlikely to change the way he wants his side to play.

Certainly there is no sense that Sunday's match will be "written off" as a no-hoper in preparation for lesser opponents in the future.

"We are not looking beyond Highbury at the moment," Roeder added. "We are trying to box each match off as another opportunity to pick up a point or three and we want to take that opportunity."

Published Friday, January 17, 2003

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