Bolton manager Gary Megson admits his side needs to beat West Ham on Saturday to give themselves a chance of staying in the Premier League.Bolton have just five matches left to save themselves and, with only two home fixtures remaining, Megson described Saturday's visit of the mid-table Hammers as a must-win game.

"I would say so because we are running out of opportunities to try and get out of the trouble we are in and we are at home," Megson said.

"If we didn't win there are still points available but it's such a huge game for us that if we were to win then that conceivably could change a lot of things for us and put us right in the mix.

"That obviously would be dependent on the result down at St Andrews, but we also need to get a little bit of momentum going at the club because at the moment we are getting battered from all sides."

Bolton's fans showed signs of running out of patience last Saturday at Aston Villa where a 4-0 defeat stretched the Trotters' winless run to eight games and left them marooned in the bottom three.

And there has also been talk of unrest within the camp with Ivan Campo, Abdoulaye Meite and El-Hadji Diouf not appearing to show a united front at various points over the past few weeks.

Megson insists the players' endeavour is still there but acknowledges they need a win to keep alive hopes of closing a four-point gap on Birmingham and winning a three-horse race to avoid following Derby down into the Championship.

"Fuham won't be sat there now thinking 'Right that's it'. They will still think they are in it but after that I would say it's two from three at the bottom," Megson added.

"Confidence isn't particularly high amongst anybody (here). The players aren't hiding, they are putting the work rate in so we have got some things we can build on and utilise to help us get these results but a result has a huge impact on any football club."

Bolton were this week forced to dismiss speculation linking Nigerian Olympic coach Samson Siasia with Megson's job and the pressure is likely to increase if they cannot halt a run of seven defeats in their last eight league games.

But Megson accepts that criticism comes as part of the territory and expects the club's fans to rise to the occasion and play a key role in getting behind his team on Saturday, when Kevin Nolan will be back as captain.

"When you're on the run we're on you expect that (criticism) but our supporters are intelligent people," he said.

"We don't get 50-60,000 of them but the people that do come are intelligent people and I'm sure they know about the atmosphere they will create at the Reebok.

"If it's a good atmosphere, that gives us a better chance and another advantage. If it's not, that makes life easier for the away team which has happened in the past, not at Bolton, but at other football clubs.

"I'm sure they are intelligent enough to know the effect they can have on the team because they have seen it in a positive when 25,000 turned up when we played Madrid, Lisbon and Manchester United.

"When they have got a full house in there and they have got that backing then it makes a huge difference to the players and they are the important people in any football club."

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