GIANFRANCO Zola insists he will not be pressing the panic button after West Ham's defeat to Birmingham City on Saturday, despite seeing his team slip into the bottom three.

The Italian manager claims he is not worried by the situation the Hammers find themselves in, and is determined to put things right.

Former West Ham midfielder Lee Bowyer scored to consign his old club to the drop zone, although he refused to celebrate his 52nd minute strike against the team he still supports.

Alessandro Diamanti, starting up front alongside Giullermo Franco following injuries to Carlton Cole and Zavon Hines, was left visibly upset after he came agonisingly close to finding the top corner on several occasions. His strike partner also missed a late one-on-one chance, while the returning Kieron Dyer hit a post with a curling effort from outside the box.

Zola called on his team to 'dig deeper' after the defeat, and they will have the chance to bounce back straight away when they make the trip to fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday.

“Did we deserve to get anything today? I thought we did,” said Zola. “Whatever I say is pointless but I just feel bad for the players because they're trying very hard and they certainly don't deserve this. It's one more reason to dig even deeper to find something out. It's a question of finding solutions.

“I have more certainty that we'll find a solution than a worry that we won't and I'll stand by that.

“It's very important not to panic about being in the bottom thee and we're certainly not panicking. We don't look like a team in panic and it's important to keep calm.

“There's a long way to go but obviously we need to do better because, right now, it's costing us dearly.”