Masuaku out for at least six weeks

Slaven Bilic is giving his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s game with Southampton:

“We have two massive games coming up and this is a great opportunity for us to get out of the trouble we are in. It will bring back the confidence and the belief if we can get the victories. The reaction has been there in training and we always train hard. We have to do that in games and for ninety minutes. 

“The performance against Accrington Stanley was not what we expected but we still got the win. We ticked the box in one game.”

“Southampton got a good victory in Europe last week and it will be another hard game for us.”

“I rate Payet highly. Jamie Redknapp said he reminds him of Beckham when it comes to free-kicks.”

“Julian Dicks used to smash them in but then you have players like Beckham who bends the ball and Payet reminds me of that.”

“It is a very important part of his game. He did it for France during the summer and is now doing it for us again. I am totally concentrated on the Southampton game. We need the fans support more than ever and they will have a big part in the game”

“I saw reports that Andy Carroll had a setback but that is totally false. We are expecting him & Aaron Cresswell back after the break”

“Arthur Masuaku has damaged his ligaments and we will know better in one week when he will be back. But it will be at least six weeks. It is not good news and both our left backs have damaged their ligaments. But we still have a good team.”

“Winston Reid is back in training and  Arbeloa has joined the team. The injuries are not ideal but we will still have a good team. I am expecting us to be really good on Sunday. We had a similar position when we played Southampton last season.”

“We had gone a few games without a win but we got the players back and confidence back and we started winning again.”

“My daughter was born a few days ago and I adore her. I still have a lot of energy and I am totally focused on the game on Sunday.”