West Ham’s Monday Night Football clash with Wolves is being viewed as an absolute win for under-fire coach Julen Lopetegui – but Max Kilman says the pressure is being felt across the entire squad.

A 2-0 win at Newcastle after the November international break seemed to signal a change in fortunes for the volatile Hammers, but a flurry of first-half goals against Arsenal at the London Stadium last weekend condemned them to a heavy derby defeat Leicester took advantage of West Ham’s profligacy in front of goal to secure a 3-1 win on Tuesday.

After heavy transfer spending in the summer and expectations that the club would move on with Lopetegui following a difficult end to David Moyes’ reign, West Ham fans showed their frustration at the poor start to the season and called for the head coach to remain in charge during this defeat King Power Stadium was sacked in midweek.

Defender Kilman, who played for Lopetegui at Wolves before signing for West Ham in the summer, says it is not just the coach who is feeling the strain but his team-mates also know they have not performed to expected standards regularly enough this season .

“It’s definitely difficult for all of us,” he says Sky Sports at the West Ham base in east London, ahead of a chilly training session. “Of course the manager is under pressure, but we are also under a lot of pressure.

“We want to perform, we want to achieve good results. We are at a club like West Ham where we have to perform and get good results because that is the level this club wants to be at.”

“We have to put in the effort and Monday is another big chance to get that right and hopefully we can go from there.”

Lopetegui’s message to his players is that they have the quality to turn things around and change their situation. With Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton watching the Wolves game and a brutal double-header against Liverpool and Manchester City at the turn of the year, it is now time for West Ham to put together a series of results.

“Do your best every day,” Kilman said when asked what Lopetegui told the team. “We have big games coming up, so make sure we give 100 percent like we always do and things will turn around.”

The message to West Ham fans? “We will do everything we can to change this and we will certainly take the positives from it.”

Kilman has been one of West Ham’s better players this season, but he says every player needs to make an effort to improve their current situation.

“I think I’ve done well but I want to do more,” he says when asked to assess his own performances since his £40million move from Molineux. “I can definitely give more, so that’s my plan. I just want to stay calm, keep improving and hopefully it will get even better.”

Certainly the game with Wolves will have been one that he has recorded in his diary since the fixtures were published, as it was there that his career began and he became captain of the club.

But given the difficult situation West Ham find themselves in – and with struggling Wolves themselves under huge pressure – the game has taken on even more significance.

“Every game in the Premier League is so tough,” says Kilman. “The Wolves are a good team. They haven’t started the season well but they have a lot of quality so we have to be ready for that. We all know what we have to do and there is a big task ahead of us.”

“I had been at Wolves for so long and Wolves gave me the opportunity to come to West Ham. So I’m grateful for some good memories there, but now that I’m at West Ham I have to do my best for West Ham and that’s what I want to do now.

“They’ve got a really good squad, a lot of young players who want to do well and they’ve been doing well for a few years now, so it’s going to be a big challenge.”

“Things can change quickly”

For all the speculation about what could happen to Lopetegui should West Ham lose, there is also the downside – the boost that a win would give the entire club.

“It would be huge,” Kilman says. “We want to try and achieve a little success and that’s what happens when you win a few games in the Premier League. Things can change and change very quickly, so that’s the plan and we have to make sure we do that.”

“You have to take it game by game. I think that’s the best mentality and you can only look at what’s right in front of you, not what’s in a few weeks or months. And hopefully we can move on from there.” .

“We haven’t been as consistent as we wanted, but we’ve shown some insight and good performances there and that’s something we need to pay attention to and build confidence from.”

With that optimistic mood, Kilman headed back out into the cold as preparations for Wolves on Monday were in full swing. West Ham believe it can be a stepping stone to overcome the difficulties they find themselves in. But the pressure is great.