WITH six games still to play in December, manager Alan Pardew has warned his West Ham players to stay focussed.

The Christmas period was the east London club's worst run last season.

They won just one match out of seven games before the FA Cup third round victory over Norwich put them back on track in January.

Pardew said: "We had a meeting this week regarding that very fact. I remember Graham Taylor calling this the tunnel part of the season and it is to a certain extent.

"The finishing line seems a long way away. Teams are thinking about several different things.

"You've got League Cup, FA Cup coming up, European ties ending and Christmas round the corner with shopping, etc.

"You can lose the focus on what you're about. If you're a professional footballer or club staff, you need to win games. That's the reality and we've tried to make sure that is clear."

West Ham were hoping to bounce back from their defeat against Everton, when they entertained Wigan on Wednesday.

Pardew said: "When you don't get anything on the road, it puts pressure on you at home and again we've put ourselves under pressure for the home game."

West Ham will be travelling again on Saturday with a trip to Sam Allardyce's battling Bolton.

They are ninth in the table after a defeat at Reading and have picked up just one win in their last seven games. Hammers have the worst away record in the league with just one draw in eight games.

Pardew said: "We need to improve on our goal tally.

"Our defensive record is almost exactly the same as last year. We have just not scored enough goals.

"It is as simple as that. It's one of those millstones around your neck that you want to lose and Bolton is a tough place to go." The north west side did the double over the Hammers last year, winning 4-1 at the Reebok Stadium, where West Ham have won just once in five Premiership meetings.

El-Hadji Diouf is top scorer with four league goals this season, while veteran defender Ivan Campo is dangerous from set-pieces with his name on the score-sheet three times this term.