West Ham vs Swansea: Sam Allardyce happy to get the support he deserves

Hammers can return to top four with victory

Sam Allardyce makes a gesture on the touchline on Saturday (GETTY IMAGES)

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce believes he is starting to win over the club’s supporters.

Just eight months after West Ham fans held up a banner at The Hawthorns saying: “Fat Sam out, killing West Ham,” Allardyce led his side to a 2-1 victory at the same venue on Tuesday night which moved them up into fifth place in the Premier League.

As he prepares for Swansea, Allardyce said: “I think we are winning a lot of people over. You always win them over if you start winning games, play better and buy better players.”

Allardyce has eased any speculation over his future, mainly because his side are 11 points and 11 goals better off than they were after 14 Premier League matches last season.

They will fancy their chances of improving that position on Sunday, buoyed by the memory of Swansea’s meek surrender on their last visit to Upton Park.

They went down 2-0 back in February, in what was Michael Laudrup’s final game in charge. He was axed just three days later and replaced by Garry Monk.

Swansea have since gone from strength to strength under the 35-year-old and are a very different side. All of which makes Monk sure his team will be able to give a much better account of themselves this time around.

Monk said: “In my time at Swansea I have never seen a side worry so much about the opposition as we did in that game.

“It showed from our line-up and the way we set up for the game,” he added. “It really played into their hands and showed that we were fearing them, where we had never feared anyone in my time before.

“We respected teams but never feared anyone. But we played with too much fear in that game. That was the reason why we got the performance we got.

“This time we want to go there in difficult circumstances and prove people wrong.”

Probable teams: West Ham Utd (4-4-1-1) Adrian, Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell, Amalfitano, Son, Kouyate, Downing, Nolan, Carroll.

Swansea City: (4-2-3-1) Fabianski; Rangel, Bartley, Williams, Richards; Ki, Shelvey; Routledge, Sigurdsson, Montero; Bony.