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Sam Allardyce is confident he can mastermind West Ham’s Premier League survival in their first season back since relegation.

The Hammers lurk just six points off the bottom three following their 2-0 loss at Chelsea yesterday and Wigan’s last gasp win at home to Newcastle, but Allardyce insists the teams below West Ham should not be of any concern to them.

He told whufc.com: “At the end of the day it’s not about Wigan being six points off us, it’s about us getting to 39 points.

“It wouldn’t matter what Wigan do then or anybody else. Not all of them will get to 39 points and that’s us. Our concern is to forget about what’s happening down below – and I know that’s different, but the bottom line is, no matter how they got on, you get to 39 points or more you’re all right.

“You’re always looking at what could happen and what couldn’t, but my belief in our own record and our performances this year say we’re good enough to secure the points we need to be safe.”

And Allardyce believes another two week break between games is just what the doctor ordered for his injury list.

“It’s always important to get the players who are injured back,” he added.

“Those three [Joe Cole, Kevin Nolan and Mark Noble] would have probably been on the team sheet from the start on Sunday, so while there’s only three injuries, it’s to three key players for us at the moment.

“Mark Noble is the biggest worry because he has had a recurrence of the injury we thought we had cleared up after a four-week rest. Nolan is a broken toe and Joe’s is a slight hamstring, and I’d expect him to be fully fit and available for West Brom.”