WEST HAM skipper Matthew Upson has apologised to fans for the team's 'poor' display against Newcastle on Wednesday.

The Hammers turned in an abject performance as Leon Best bagged a hat-trick in the 5-0 thumping; a result that sees the team slide to the foot of the table once again.

Upson was part of the back four that was so woefully exposed by Newcastle's attack, and he was quick to say sorry to the fans that made the lengthy midweek trip.

“I can only apologise for the display,” he said. “Again, it was a fantastic effort from the supporters who came to watch and we didn't do them justice and that's a shame. We need to improve and keep them coming away from home.

“They've been great all season and we will back on it in the next game.”

Next up for West Ham is the visit of Barnsley in the third round of the FA Cup, with the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final to follow against Birmingham City at Upton Park on Tuesday.

However, there will need to be a marked improvement if the team plan on progressing in either of those competitions.

“It's very difficult to sum up after such a heavy defeat,” added Upson. “We're obviously very disappointed and need to re-group and get ourselves together after a good run.

“I think we have put a lot of our efforts into our last four games and had some really good results so perhaps this was one step too far for us because we were really poor.

“You need to look at it, pick pieces out of it, and scrap it. That's the best way to move forward. You can't dwell on it or over-analyse it so we'll do that and get back to what I would call normal.

“It was just a poor performance – a poor individual performance and a poor collective performance. We just have to move on.”