GIANFRANCO Zola admits West Ham are in a tough situation at the moment but he feels the team are doing their best to keep away from the Premier League relegation battle.

After Monday’s 2-0 defeat to bitter rivals Spurs, the Hammers dropped below rejuventated Tottenham and are now only three points off the relegation zone.

But Zola is desperate to ensure the situation will improve.

“We are going to be working even harder than we are doing and we are trying to improve the situation,” the Italian declared “We won’t panic, we have faith in ourselves and we will carry on working.”

Tottenham’s Ledley King scored the all-important first goal of the game at Upton Park on Monday night.

And Zola knew this was a key factor in deciding the match, saying: “It was important for us to score first because we knew the game was going to be close.”

West Ham struggled to create any real chances throughout the game and that shortage of quality in the final third of the pitch has got Zola concerned with his attacking options.

“We had the opportunities to come back but we just didn’t take them and now we will try to get more goals,” added the manager who took over at West Ham in September.

“We are going to be working on the strikers’ confidence and trying to do something to resolve the situation.”

The former Chelsea forward also expressed his upset at seeing the Hammers’ three-match unbeaten run come to an end, much to the disappointment of the Upton Park faithful.

“The players gave everything and so what can I say?” he added.

“I do understand the frustration — we gave everything we had to make them happy and unfortunately it didn’t work.

“It was a game everybody wanted to win and it was disappointing for the team and for the fans because that was a big game for them as well.”

Zola’s opposite number, Harry Redknapp was particularly pleased with his team’s performance as they continued their renaissance under the former Portsmouth boss.

“We deserved to win,” said the ex-West Ham boss.

“We created some great chances and that win gives us all a lift, it moves us up the table and we can take confidence from that performance going into our next game.”

West Ham’s next game is against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge where the Hammers could be put to the sword by a resurgent Blues side.

But Zola is still optimistic ahead of the return to his former club.

“It is not an easy situation, we know that, but in football you never know,” the Irons boss added.