Valon Behrami insists his West Ham players will have to sort their heads out if the team is to stand any chance of avoiding relegation.
West Ham slipped closer to the danger zone on Saturday after a 2-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Bolton.
Behrami described the Hammers' performance as one of the poorest he can recall since Gianfranco Zola took over as manager.
To make matters worse, West Ham now has back-to-back away games at Chelsea and then Arsenal.
Behrami maintained the Hammers are capable of producing 'something special' to avoid the drop, as they did in 2006-07 - but he demanded a change of attitude.
"It was deeply disappointing for us (against Bolton). It was one of our worst games with Mr Zola in the last two years. We lost a big chance," said Behrami.
"If you look at the statistics, we run more than other teams - but the big thing is our mentality. So it is on our mind and our attitude."
"When you make technical mistakes you can work on them. Easy. You just keep working hard."
"But the problem is bigger when it is mental. It is very difficult to work on that. Time is running short. We have to change something as the situation now is not good for us."
"We can do something special but we have to all play 100 percent. Every player needs to give 100 percent mentally and physically. That is not so easy. If only one player gives 80 percent we can't win the game."
"It was already hard and now it will be harder still."
The statistics back up Behrami's point about a side lacking mental toughness. West Ham has not won a Barclays Premier League match all season in which it has conceded the first goal.
The Hammers' best performance in that situation was rallying from 2-0 down to draw with Arsenal but they have now lost the other 12.
At the weekend, Bolton was 2-0 up inside 16 minutes and Zola knows the Hammers cannot afford to make another sluggish start at Stamford Bridge.
"It's been a season when we haven't got going as well as we would have wanted. That is the thing that frustrates me most," said Zola.
"The Bolton game is going to be a big lesson for everybody in that respect."
"We need to get some points away from home."
Zola agreed with Behrami that West Ham will not head into its successive London derbies without any hope at all.
"They are big, big teams and big games. No-one is expecting anything from us but football is strange," said Zola.
"Last year, we got a point in both games so I am not going to go there already beaten because I know football can have surprises."