Slaven Bilic calls for West Ham United to rediscover form after FA Cup humbling against Manchester City

The Hammers were abject in defeat at London Stadium and offered little to disrupt Pep Guardiola’s side’s progress to the fourth round.

The display had marked similarities with the 5-1 loss suffered against Arsenal in the Premier League at the start of December.

That defeat sparked an upturn in form, which saw the Hammers take 10 points from an unbeaten four game run, and Bilic wants to see a similar reaction to Friday’s loss.

He said: “Now it’s time for the team to show character. Unfortunately we have had a few defeats like that.

“After Arsenal we showed character, quality and team spirit when we went to Liverpool and got 10 points after that hard defeat. It is time to do that again.”

A home match against struggling Crystal Palace on Saturday provides the Hammers with their first opportunity to bounce back from the City defeat.

Sam Allardyce’s side are just a point above the relegation zone and are without a win in six top flight games.

Bilic expects the defeat to Manchester City to put a dent in confidence levels around London Stadium, but believes West Ham will rediscover their form ahead of Palace’s visit.

“We have to come back from this against Palace,” he explained.

“Always when you have a defeat it affects confidence, but we have enough days to work, get that confidence back and be ready for Palace.”

The Hammers’ hopes of taking a positive result from Saturday’s match have been boosted by Wilfried Zaha’s ongoing involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The winger, who is representing Ivory Coast in Gabon, has provided a rare bright spark in an otherwise bleak season for the Selhurst Park club.

He has four goals to his name this season and has begun to add end product to his undoubted talent.

West Ham, meanwhile, are likely to welcome Dimitri Payet and Mark Noble back to their starting XI after the pair started on the bench against City.