West Ham will have gone two weeks without a match when they travel to Watford in the Premier League on Saturday.

Slaven Bilic’s men drew 2-2 with West Brom in their last outing on February 11, a result which saw them slip a place to tenth in the division due to Gareth McAuley’s injury-time equaliser for the Baggies.

Nonetheless, it’s certainly looking a lot better for Hammers fans now than it did at the start of December, when they had just lost 5-1 at home to Arsenal, and were just a point and a place above the bottom three.

However, six wins in their 11 Premier League games since then has moved Bilic’s men well away from the relegation zone, to the point that replicating last season’s seventh place in the league again this time round has become a real possibility.

Yet, there are still some things that they need to improve between now and the end of the season to indeed get to seventh, and potentially challenge for the European spots.

Thus, here are THREE things that Bilic and his West Ham team need to improve ahead of the run in…

Home form

Although things have been looking up for West Ham in recent weeks, their home form still leaves a lot to be desired.

In their first season at the London Stadium, the Hammers have won just five of their 13 Premier League games there, with their tally of 18 points better than just five other sides in the top-flight.

Although their form at home is plenty good enough to avoid the drop, if they want to be knocking on the door for Europe, and with home games to come against Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham, they need to improve upon that record.

However, there’s no doubt that Bilic’s men have been better at home in recent months, excluding the 4-0 defeat by Manchester City a few weeks ago, but they need to translate that form consistently between now and May to finally feel at home at the London Stadium.

Becoming defensively solid

There has been a slight improvement in West Ham’s defensive capabilities in the last month or so, but they still need to tighten up more if they want to be challenging for Europe.

Bilic’s side have conceded 43 goals this term, which is more than any side in the top 12 of the Premier League, and is a better defensive record than just four other sides, three of which are in the bottom three.

They have kept just one clean sheet in their last nine matches, and despite the arrival of Southampton captain Jose Fonte in January, you still sense that they can be got at, especially in the wide areas, with Cheikhou Kouyate not an out-and-out right-back, and Aaron Cresswell not quite hitting the heights in recent times.

Clearly, they have the potential to be a very difficult side to beat, and that’s something they need to be between now and May to put pressure on the teams above them in the table.

Playing without Carroll

West Ham drew 2-2 against West Brom in their last match, and it was the first one in a while that saw Andy Carroll not in the matchday squad due to injury.

And, although the Hammers performed reasonably well for long periods, you still sense that most of their play was revolved around playing to Carroll’s strengths, despite him not being on the pitch.

Obviously, when you’ve got a striker like that in your ranks, you’d be silly not to play to his strengths, and his return of six goals in 11 league games since returning is indicative of that, but when’s he not on the pitch, there needs to be a plan B.

There were several occasions when the likes of Robert Snodgrass and Michail Antonio were getting high balls into the box, but with no Carroll in there, it was relatively comfortable for West Brom.

Clearly, Carroll’s injury history means it’s unlikely that he’ll be fit for the rest of the campaign, so West Ham must have other ideas in mind to get the goals and the wins when he’s not on the pitch.