West Ham United hero Tony Cottee says it's time for the players to prove their worth.

Cottee does not blame Gianfranco Zola for their plight - he believes the team should take a long, hard look in the mirror.

West Ham travel to Everton, another of his old clubs, today seeking just a second away win of the season and having lost their last six matches.

"It's down to the players," Cottee told the Sunday Mirror. "I am going to Goodison hoping we don't get a hammering, four or five nil.

"It's a game West Ham are not expected to win, but it would be terrible for morale if we were mauled.

"And yet I look at the team and think that, on paper, they could beat Everton. They have four England internationals at the spine of the team: Robert Green, Matthew Upson, Scott Parker and Carlton Cole. Then there's the likes of Mark Noble and Jack Collison.

"So the players have not been performing. Now is the time to put that right - or else they'll go down."