Salut!

We slipped to a disappointing defeat at West Ham on Wednesday night, but the manner in which we lost sums up our luck at the moment. We were defending resolutely and thwarting all their attempts to score, until the 57th minute.

Joe Cole hit a long-range shot which our goalkeeper Steve Simonsen had covered, until it took a wicked deflection off Trevor Sinclair and flew in the opposite corner of the goal. When you are in our position in the table you do not get a lot of luck. Another piece of bad luck was the injury to Kevin Campbell because we already have a few injuries and we don't have any more strikers.

We have to believe we can stay up because if we don't have faith in our ability then there is no point going out on the pitch to play football. We must be very strong and try our best to save the club from relegation. The mood is a bit down at the moment, but we know we can lift it by getting the right result on Sunday when we travel to Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

If can reach the FA Cup semi-finals then it will give the team a lift, and if we can go all the way it will be fantastic. If you are having a bad season, then anything positive is a nice distraction and will cheer you up. But I think we would all swap winning the FA Cup for a guaranteed place in the Premiership next season.

On a personal level, I feel I am getting there in terms of fitness. I didn't play for a long time at Aston Villa and I need to play to keep my fitness levels up. I was on the bench at Upton Park because I think the manager's first priority was to try and get a point. But hopefully I can make the team at Middlesbrough and help put us one step away from the FA Cup final.

A bientôt,

David Ginola.

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