Graham Potter admits West Ham are "hurting" but he heads to Nottingham Forest for Sunday's 2pm kick-off insisting they are not far from getting back "on a good path".
Potter is under increasing pressure after the Hammers started the season with back-to-back Premier League defeats and an early Carabao Cup exit after losing at Wolves in midweek.
But the former Brighton and Chelsea head coach, whose squad was boosted by the £40m signing of Mateus Fernandes from Southampton on Friday, said it was not time to look for reassurances over his job.
He said: "I don't think it's about reassurances. I'm an experienced manager, I try my best and it's my job to help the players.
"We're all hurting, because the pre-season was encouraging. We lost at Sunderland and against Chelsea, and we're not shying away from the fact that things haven't been good.
"At the same time, I don't think we're far from a performance and a result that gets things on a good path.
"It sounds simple, but we’ve just been focusing on working hard at the training ground, and speaking to and supporting the players.
"It’s been really frustrating for all of us, especially when you see the application and effort of the players. Against Wolves on Tuesday, I thought the commitment was there, but at any level of football, if you concede goals, it can affect everything.
"But there’s connection and commitment in this team, and I believe we’re not far from a performance and a result that gets us moving in a different direction, that ultimately is the key to building trust and turning things around."
Fernandes, a Portugal Under-21 international, has signed a five-year deal with the Hammers and is likely to make his Hammers debut at the City Ground.
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Potter said the arrival of Fernandes adds a "different dimension" to his squad, although there is likely to be more West Ham transfer activity before the window closes at 7pm on Monday.
"We'll always look until the end of the window," he said. "You never know what's going to happen. I think it'll be one of those windows that's going to be a lot of activity late.
"We need to make sure we're aware and aligned to make the right calls. You've always got to look to improve and at the same time improve the players that we have."
As for Forest, Potter is an admirer of the club and of head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, too
He added: "They’ve done a brilliant job over the last few years. They were almost ridiculed for spending a lot of money when they were promoted a couple of years ago, but I think they’ve proven that they know what they’re doing.
"I think what they’ve done has shown the gap between the Championship and the Premier League, in terms of how you have to invest in your team to compete, which they’re doing now. They stabilised, and then they had a brilliant season last year. Now, they’ve got a really powerful, well-organised team, with lots of talented individual players, so we know we’re in for a tough game on Sunday."
As for Nuno, he said: "I know his career well, having come up against him a few times over the years, and he’s certainly very well respected among other coaches because of the experience he’s gained and the jobs he’s done at different clubs.
"He’s definitely done a brilliant job at Forest."
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