Tony Cottee

Sam Allardyce must be scratching his head and wondering why his team’s away form has gone so badly wrong lately.

Saturday’s performance at Sunderland was bitterly disappointing and it looked like they deserved to get a 3-0 stuffing against one of my old managers in Martin O’Neill.

I do try to be positive and all I can say is that hopefully it was a one-off, but when you consider just how good the team were on the road last season, it is hard to fathom what has gone wrong for them.

It was so different to last week against Manchester United, but it is always easy to get yourself up for a game like that, whereas on a cold day so far away it can be more difficult.

There are no excuses though and the manager certainly didn’t make any on the day.

Of course, this Saturday’s game is more important than the FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford, I really think it is absolutely vital to win the game.

I am a big fan of Harry Redknapp. He brought me back to Upton Park and I enjoyed my two and a bit years under him.

He is an infectious character. He does take things seriously, but you can also have a joke with him – for me he is the full package.

Being bottom at Christmas should mean that QPR will go down, but if anyone can get them out of trouble it is Harry and I think they now have a good chance.

West Ham have 26 points at the moment and the sooner they get to 30 the better in my mind.

Lose to QPR and they will gain some points on us and some people will start talking about us getting into relegation trouble and we really want to avoid that.

I feel confident for Saturday though and I will go for a 2-0 home victory for the Hammers.