West Ham left-back Aaron Cresswell leaps to defence of boss Slaven Bilic

West Ham left-back Aaron Cresswell has leapt to the defence of manager Slaven Bilic despite their recent run of poor form, reports Sky Sports.

The Hammers boss has overseen a woeful run of no win in five Premier League games, including three successive defeats, and although they are currently nine points clear of the bottom three, that could become six if they lose at struggling Hull City on Saturday.

Bilic’s men are 12th and aren’t looking like replicating last season’s stunning seventh place finish in the division, although Cresswell maintains that the 48-year-old retains the support of the players.

The England international told Sky Sports: ‘If you ask any of the players, they would say the same, we are fully behind him and fully supportive of him.

‘Hopefully we can turn it around and take that pressure off everyone.

‘He is positive and passionate about his job. He is bubbly around the place and wants to stay in a positive mood and, as players, that’s what we want.’

This comes after reports on Sunday suggested that Reading manager Jaap Stam is in line to replace Bilic come the end of the campaign.

However, it was Bilic who led the side to that seventh place finish in the Premier League last season, and they did lose their best player in Dimitri Payet back in January after the Frenchman came out and refused to play for West Ham, and was subsequently sold.

The move to the London Stadium also hasn’t been immediately kind to the Hammers, winning just five of their 15 Premier League games there, so all in all it hasn’t been an easy season for West Ham, but one that they may have expected more from as it has progressed.

The Hammers face a crucial game at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday against 18th place Hull, where victory would banish any relegation fears, but defeat could plunge them into a relegation dog-fight.