Andy Carroll insists West Ham’s squad are united despite a humbling 5-1 defeat against Arsenal on Saturday heightening their relegation worries.

The Hammers will fall into the drop zone if Hull City win against Middleborough tonight and looked short of both confidence and quality against the Gunners.

But Carroll, who marked his first Premier League appearance since the opening day with a goal on Saturday, says the squad is fully behind manager Slaven Bilic and can turn things around.

He told the club website: “We just need to keep working hard in training and there is a great bunch of lads in the dressing room.

“Everyone has stood by the manager and he is a great manager. We are in this as a team together and all the lads are disappointed with the result and the way things are going.

“I am very confident that we are going to pull ourselves out of this. We have just got to stay positive.”

Arsenal dominated Saturday’s meeting as Alexis Sanchez’s sublime hat-trick added to goals from Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to seal a miserable day for their London rivals.

Arsenal’s late ruthlessness in front of goal, which saw them score three times in the last 10 minutes, ensured Carroll’s goal had little impact on the outcome.

The England international was still pleased to have opened his account for the season, but says the entire West Ham squad must now look to move on from a Painful loss.

“We went one goal behind and we could have got something from the game at that point but we conceded another goal and then kind of crumbled,” Carroll said.

“It was good to get another goal and be back out on the pitch, but at the moment all the lads just need to focus on the next game and hopefully get a win.”