Tony Cottee has backed manager Slaven Bilic to turn West Ham United's early-season fortunes around.

The Hammers lost their second consecutive match in the Premier League over the weekend as they were beaten 4-3 at home by Bournemouth.

Bilic slammed his side after the game, claiming that they "need a better mentality" on and off the pitch.

Despite an underwhelming start to the campaign, Cottee believes that the Croatian will soon have West Ham climbing up the table.

"It is early days and our performances will get better. As a team I think we will be fine this year," the former striker told the club's official website.

"There was always going to be a transitional period with a new manager coming in and players need to get used to the new ideas and a new way of playing.

"Credit to Slaven for being honest but he will work harder and we will get out of this. The players need to prove to Slaven that they should be in the team."

West Ham are back in action on Saturday when they make the trip to Liverpool in the Premier League.

Written by
Jack Prescott