Nuno Espirito Santo delivers brutal Lucas Paqueta parting shot amid survival vow

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Nuno Espirito Santo has delivered a final parting shot at Lucas Paqueta as he claimed West Ham now have a “committed squad” for their relegation battle.

And the Irons boss praised the courage of new signings in the winter window and claimed: “I'm totally convinced that we're going to be OK.”

The Brazil playmaker forced through a move back to his first club Flamengo in the January window after declaring he was unfit to play because of a back injury. West Ham have responded by bringing in five signings, including France defender Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea . The Hammers will assess on Friday if he is ready to make to his debut in the relegation six-pointer at Burnley on Saturday.

Asked if he had wanted more signing for the club six points from safety, the Portuguese boss said: “We brought players that we can see that made sense to us in terms of rebalancing our squad. The players that came in, I think they can help. Of course, there were other things going on, but it's a very tricky window to operate in but I think we have a committed squad now and we have to move forward. Of, course, it's not always perfect. But the main reason is that I think we've been able to rebalance our squad and become competitive.”

Espirito Santo added: “The situation with Lucas, everybody's aware of something that was difficult to do. I think in the end everybody looked for a better solution. We have to realise that you can have targets, but those targets are in other clubs. And it's not only what you want, it's what the other clubs do also. So our fans must understand that the transfer window of January is very difficult to operate.

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"It's more about rebalancing and understanding what we need to the last matches of the season. And I'm totally convinced that we're going to be OK. So I can tell our fans that we are positive, we are working, we are committed, we are aware of the situation and the responsibility that is ours.

“Am I happier with the squad? Yes, yes, yes. Definitely, definitely. We rebalance the squad, we have options and the players are committed, committed. That is more than anything important.”

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West Ham have also brought in Pablo, Valentino Castellanos, Adama Traore as well as Disasi and Keiber Lamadrid on loan.

Asked if they had enough experience of relegation battles, Espirito Santo said: “They realise it and they realised even before they join us. You have to be brave to join a club in the situation that you are, that we are, and they've shown that this purpose, this commitment to come here and help. So I'm positive that they are already aware of the fight that we're involved in.

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Disasi could be required immediately despite not playing this season after Jean-Clair Todibo’s late red card at Stamford Bridge.

“It was a big mess,” he said. “It was a mistake and first of all he was the first one to recognize that it was the mistake. Unfortunately now we're gonna be without him for a couple of games. We're gonna miss him but he realised that he made a mistake and the message is we cannot afford to have mistakes. We cannot afford to make mistakes, especially disciplinary mistakes.”

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