Avram Grant likens his position to early days of Ferguson and Wenger

Avram Grant has shrugged off the pressure building on him at West Ham United by pointing to the experiences of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger when they took charge of Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. Speculation regarding Grant's position as manager has grown this week following the sacking of Sam Allardyce by Blackburn Rovers. West Ham are still bottom of the Premier League, two points adrift, and visit Rovers tomorrow afternoon. But the Israeli is still confident that he can guide his team to safety. Ferguson, now the most successful manager in British history, required four years to claim a first trophy, while Wenger was dubbed "Arsène who?" by some when he took over Arsenal in 1996. Grant said: "I am very optimistic about the future. If you see all the big clubs now – we are not Arsenal and we are not Manchester United but, when Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson started, it was looking very, very hopeless. No one thought they would be in this position [that they are now]. I don't like to compare these things but I know the future at West Ham, despite the financial situation and our position in the league, can be good." Grant did accept there is pressure. "You are thinking about everything and you are sleeping less. But I am telling you, even when you are at the top you also don't sleep. Being a manager is a life without sleeping sometimes." Grant said that, despite reports that Allardyce is being lined up to replace him should West Ham fail to win soon – they have had only two league victories this season – David Sullivan and David Gold, the owners, had not discussed his future. "We were speaking about the team, about [the] January [transfer window], how to improve things, the financial situation, normal things," he said. Pressed if Grant was confident that he had the full backing of the board, which also includes Karren Brady, he said: "I cannot answer you about this question. I know that I am speaking with the owners and there is no problem with them." West Ham still have no away league win since defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of last season and Grant is conscious this needs addressing. "It's a challenge. Before I came here there were a lot of things that were a challenge, so this [is] one more challenge to win your away games, because you cannot finish the season without winning away, we need it. We did it in the Carling Cup – when we played against teams that are strong [Sunderland] – so I think we will do it in the league. We need to do it one time or two times or three or four."