West Ham will want to start edging away from trouble when they entertain Burnley on Saturday.
The Hammers currently occupy a standing outside of the Premier League's bottom three, but only goal difference is keeping their heads above water.
A dismal record on home soil has been their undoing so far, with only one victory taken from six fixtures at Upton Park.
However, the players are making slow progress in their journey away from the relegation zone. Though they have lost only one of their last five Premier League games three of those have been drawn, including the 3-3 thriller at Hull last weekend.
Matthew Upson will miss out for West Ham after suffering a hamstring injury in training on Wednesday.
Fellow centre-back Danny Gabbidon, fully fit after an abdominal injury, should take the place of the England international at the heart of the defence, with midfielder Scott Parker taking over the captain's armband.
Forward Alessandro Diamanti is still out with a hip problem, but James Tomkins and Mark Noble have been declared fit by manager Gianfranco Zola.
Winger Kieron Dyer has returned to fitness after a hamstring injury and played for the reserves on Tuesday, but is unlikely to feature at Upton Park.
Burnley, meanwhile, have been a breath of fresh air for the Premier League. In a similar fashion to Hull last season, the Clarets have made themselves a formidable force at home, notching 16 of their 17 points at Fortress Turf Moor.
The problem for manager Owen Coyle is, obviously, their poor away form. Quite simply, Burnley do not travel well and while home form alone might keep them afloat in the top flight, it will do them no favors at Upton Park this weekend.
Burnley manager Owen Coyle is pondering selecting the same starting XI for the fifth consecutive Premier League match. The 11th-placed Clarets travel to east London to face West Ham with a settled side and no major injury concerns.
Burnley's absentees are due to long-term problems with midfielder Chris McCann and forwards Jay Rodriguez and Martin Paterson all scheduled for a return around Christmas.
REVIEW:
West Ham secured a vital win at home to Burnley in a remarkable 5-3 goal-fest at Upton Park.
The Hammers were cruising at one point after going 5-0 up, but Owen Coyle's Clarets kept fighting right to the end and pulled three goals back in the last 25 minutes.
Jack Collison and Junior Stanislas gave West Ham the early advantage before Carlton Cole converted a 43rd minute penalty.
Guillermo Franco continued the rout soon after the interval before Luis Jimenez scored West Ham’s fifth from the game’s second penalty. Steven Fletcher’s two late goals and another in added time from Chris Eagles made for a nervous finale.
But Burnley finished with 10 men after Steven Caldwell was sent off in added time, for a professional foul on Zavon Hines.
The early stages of the game showcased some scrappy play, as neither side could hold on to the ball for long enough to mount an attack. But as the game progressed, Burnley began to press hard for a goal as the crowd at Upton Park witnessed a spell of defensive play from the east London club.
After seeing off a few attacks, the hosts grew into the game to take their game into the attacking third, and the results came swiftly, as Collison sent one into the back of the net, after a quick free-kick from Scott Parker.
Before Burnley could recover, West Ham doubled their lead on 34 minutes.
The busy Franco slipped a reserve pass through to Stanislas on the right.
The England Under-21 winger looked to have missed his opportunity when Jensen made a smart save at his near post - only for the Burnley keeper to get his angles all wrong from the rebound, as Stanislas guided the ball inside the far post.
And with three minutes of the first half remaining, Burnley’s Robbie Blake brought down Jonathan Spector and Carlton Cole converted the kick for his seventh goal of the season.
Having relinquished two-goal leads against Sunderland and Hull in recent weeks, the crowd were relieved to see a third. But Cole, injured before the penalty, failed to emerge for the second half, with Zavon Hines his replacement.
And within seven minutes of the re-start, West Ham scored their fourth and again it came from a free-kick. Stanislas’s kick was weighted perfectly and Franco caught the Burnley defence out with a low header.
Burnley made a double substitution with David Nugent and Christian Kalvanes introduced, but it was West Ham who continued to control affairs and in the 64th minute substitute Jiminez, having been upended by Jensen, converted the game’s second penalty.
With less than a minute to go before the referee brought the game to a halt, Eagles pulled one more back, as he scored from inside the area into the middle of the goal.
As the man in charged brought the curtains down on the game, the two sides walked away holding their heads up high. But it was West Ham who took all three points from the encounter.