MARK Noble has urged West Ham United’s fans and players to stay positive in the wake of their 4-2 defeat to Watford at the London Stadium on Saturday.

The Hammers appeared to be on course to record their second win of the Premier League season after going in front courtesy of a double from Michail Antonio and two assists from Dimitri Payet.

But Slaven Bilic’s men folded and conceded four goals to slip into 17th in the table with just three points to their name.

“That is the best we have played for a long while, in the first half. A couple of mistakes have cost us and we couldn’t recover,” the Hammers captain told the club’s website.

“If we can go in 2-0 up at half time it is a different game, but the mistakes have cost us in the end.

“There is a long way to go and we have to stay positive.”

West Ham’s slow start to the campaign has seen a lot of the momentum that was gathered following the move to their new stadium dissipate but Noble has urged the club not to be too downbeat.

Their record so far this season is three loses and one win, which was the 1-0 home victory over Bournemouth.

But they are not the only club to struggle when moving to a new home as Arsenal had their own problems when they moved to the Emirates in 2006.

The Hammers also crashed out of the Europa League to Astra Giurgiu after they lost 1-0 at home, with Astra winning 2-1 overall on aggregate.

West Ham’s disappointing start has also been affected by a lengthy injury list, with star man Payet only just closing in on full fitness, while a host of new faces are still adjusting to life in English football.

“We have still got new players coming in learning the league and we have a lot of players in their second season,” added Noble.

“We have got players coming back from injury like Manu [Manuel Lanzini] and Dimi and we have got to take the positives – we played fantastic in the first half, but we conceded silly goals.”

Meanwhile, Antonio has won the Hammers’ player of the month with youngster Antonio Martinez winning goal of the month for August.

The pair were both clear winners in the fan poll with Antonio taking 57 per cent of the vote and Matinez 44 per cent for his stunner in the Checkatrade Trophy at Coventry City.

Antonio beat left-back Arthur Masuaku, with Cheikhou Kouyate rounding out the top three.

James Collins’ fierce strike in the Premier League opener at Chelsea was second in the goal of the month standings while Sofiane Feghouli was third for his strike against NK Domzale.

West Ham are back in Premier League action on Saturday when they face West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.