But the club’s dip in form has meant that the outcome against their London rivals from Division One is no foregone conclusion, and Coleman wants his side to rediscover the form they showed earlier in the campaign.

“We are at a critical stage of the season,” Coleman said. “A little bit of complacency has set in and we need to get back to what we were doing when we were winning matches.

“We are not realistically going to get relegated from the Premiership. Liverpool and Newcastle are chasing the fourth Champions League place but we have got a great chance to finish in the top six, although the top eight is more realistic.

“We also want to get as far as we can in the cup, but we won’t do that if we continue to perform the way we have been because we have been below par for the last two or three matches.”

Fulham, ninth in the Barclaycard Premiership, should prove too strong for West Ham tonight but Coleman is refusing to admit his side are favourites to progress to the last eight.

“We like to go into matches as the underdogs and we normally play better that way, pulling something out of the bag,” he said.

“And I believe we might be the underdogs against West Ham. If you look at their form and the fact they will be at home, then perhaps they are the favourites.”

Fulham will certainly need to improve on their dire 2-1 weekend defeat by Wolves – a result which has helped make the last month a gruelling period for Coleman – if they are to progress in the competition.

“I took Barry Hayles off on Saturday but in reality I could have taken any one of seven players off, that is how poor we were,” said Coleman. “I was asked if we should have finished with a point against Wolves, but we didn’t deserve a draw.

“I have not enjoyed the last three or four games because we are not punishing teams like we should do. Of course it is up to me to get the players back on track, but the way they are playing is not good enough.”