Stewart Downing has urged his West Ham United teammates to produce a strong finish to the season in a bid to save manager Sam Allardyce's job.
The Hammers looked on course for just their second victory since January this afternoon until Marko Arnautovic struck a 95th-minute equaliser as Stoke City earned a 1-1 draw at Upton Park.
Allardyce's side have picked up five defeats and four draws from their last 10 games and, with the 60-year-old's contract up in the summer, an extension is not expected to be on the table.
However, Downing remains hopeful that the club's hierarchy will offer the under-fire manager a new deal but says that the team have a big part to play.
"We'd like him to stay. We don't know what the situation is," he told reporters. It's going to be resolved at the end of the season as he said yesterday I think. The only thing we can do is win games.
"This puts him in a stronger position to keep his job. Obviously he is disappointed today because wins help. Losing games and drawing games probably won't help him.
"Like I said, we are disappointed today. Whatever will be will be at the end of the season. I'm sure he'll want to get it sorted as soon as he can."
The East Londoners stay ninth in the Premier League table following the setback.
Shane Callaghan
