Slaven Bilic has denied suggestions that West Ham United's players have improved their fitness since he was sacked as manager in November.
Under David Moyes, the Hammers have recorded four points from games against Chelsea and Arsenal, and came close to securing a draw away at Manchester City.
However, despite suggestions that his first-team squad were failing to perform for 90 minutes, Bilic has insisted that the statistics are misleading due to his side having to contend with two early dismissals in the first eight games of the season.
The 49-year-old told Goals On Sunday: "Fitness-wise, I read about those things and have been told about them, but in the first 10 games, we had two red cards very early in the games. That has an effect on the stats.
"We run really good against Burnley with 10 men, close to win, and we had great stats against Southampton, against Spurs, against Huddersfield. What I didn't like was that against Newcastle away and Brighton at home. At 3-0 down, we stopped running and lost that belief.
"I know the players are going to be more hungry because they realise the situation with the new manager, but take the 4-0 defeat at Everton. The stats will be very low."
West Ham currently sit in 17th place in the table, with Moyes claiming eight points from his first eight games in charge at the London Stadium.
Darren Plant
