West Ham face fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers at the Boleyn tomorrow in what is probably the most important game of the season so far - but don't tell Glenn Roeder.
Roeder, who leads his charges into battle in tomorrows must win game (yet another one) knows that should his side fail to beat Sam Allardyce's men they will be bottom of the pile come Christmas - a place from which no Premiership club has ever recovered.But the affable Hammers boss is viewing the game as just another afternoon at the office.
"There are people dying in this world so I wouldn’t say that being bottom of the table would ruin my Christmas,” he says.
"Later today I'm off to visit some children who might not be here next year - I think that is the type of thing which can ruin someone’s Christmas.
"It is good for the soul; sometimes we need to take a rain check and have a look at what else is going on in the world – it gives a sense of proportion to what we are all doing."
But despite the philosophical stance Roeder is clearly aware of the statistic - which is no surprise, as every news report (including this one) mentioning the game seems to mention it at some point.
"Nobody can look into a crystal ball but one day somebody is going to be bottom at Christmas and stay up – that is fact," he says.
"So even if we were bottom on Christmas Day it would be another motivation for the players here to prove everybody wrong."
The good news for Roeder is that he will go into the game with a fully-fit Don Hutchison; the Scot returning to action after some nine months out.
However Freddie Kanoute, who many people see as pivotal to the Hammers chances of staving off relegation is unlikely to make it - despite one major sports-based radio station claiming earlier today that he will be fit.
Hutchison's return is likely to mean a return to defence for Ian Pearce, who has been plying his trade as a makeshift striker in the last three outings.
Christian Dailly will battle with Tomas Repka for the other centre-back spot.
Bolton, fresh from a humiliating 3-0 defeat against Leeds last Monday will fall below the Hammers should they lose tomorrow.
And Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce isn't quite as reflective as his counterpart when it comes to that bottom spot.
"The bottom line is the Christmas spot," he says. "You have to make sure you are not at the bottom.
"Everybody knows that, and we have put an enormous amount of pressure upon ourselves to go to West Ham and get a result.
"It’s a strange scenario we have left ourselves in now and a very, very difficult one. We now find ourselves fighting out for bottom position of the table with West Ham," he adds.
"Whoever wins the game gets a massive boost - whoever loses is going to end up bottom of the division. It is something that I would not have envisaged at this stage of the season.
"We have to face up to reality, roll our sleeves up and fight our way out of it."
Bolton are boosted by the return of Kevin Nolan and Michael Ricketts - two vitally important players in their quest to avoid relegation.
But Ricardo Gardner and Paul Warhurst (both hamstrings) have both been ruled out of contention.
Allardyce is also aware of the discontent that has been making itself apparent at Upton Park in recent weeks - and hopes that just maybe that could work in his favour, as it did for Southampton a fortnight ago.
"If West Ham go through the game and don’t score the fans will obviously assert a lot of pressure on their players," he says. "That will make them very nervous and edgy.
"The longer that goes on the more likely they are to make a mistake and give us the opportunity to capitalise."
Final word then to Glenn Roeder, as he prepares he troops for what is bound to be a full-blooded affair, and certainly not one for either the faint-hearted or the purist.
"We all know where Bolton are in the table, we know a win would take us off the bottom.
"That is all we have been focused on this week. The players know the importance of the game and I am not going to heap any more pressure on them – at 3pm tomorrow they will be ready to play.
"And if we win tomorrow my biggest joy will be seeing how happy the players are back in the dressing room."
Not to mention one or two supporters ...
* BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson has predicted a Hammers win tomorrow - here's his words from the BBC Sport website ...
"This is another big relegation battle. In fairness to West Ham, they have had good chances to win most of their recent games.
"They will have chances against Bolton and I expect them to take them. Wanderers are in all sorts of disarray.
"Verdict - home win."
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