BLACKBURN Rovers defender Michael Gray today warned his team-mates it's vital they beat West Ham if they want to get their season back on track.

After back-to-back defeats in the Premiership, Rovers are about to enter what is arguably the most crucial period in their campaign so far.

And Gray believes tomorrow's performance against Alan Pardew's in-form Hammers could ultimately define how Rovers fare over the festive period.

"We are coming up to a very tough period but if we can get a bit of confidence and get on a good run then you never know where we could find ourselves in January," said Gray.

"We know we've got some tough matches coming up, and they're going to come round really quickly, but that's why we've got a squad of players here and everyone's got to be ready for when their chance comes."

West Ham have made an impressive return to the Premiership after gaining promotion at the end of last season, and they head to Ewood tomorrow hoping to tie up back-to-back victories for the first time in nine matches following an excellent 2-1 win at Birmingham on Monday night.

"It doesn't surprise me how well they've done," said Gray.

"If you can get off to a good start in the Premiership then that fills you with confidence and you can't wait for the next game to come along.

"We know it's going to be a hard game tomorrow because they'll be up for it, but we've just got to try to get back to winning ways and try and make it as tough as possible for West Ham to get anything at Ewood.

"They are playing really good football at the minute, they've got great experience, and they've got good legs in the team as well, so it's another hard match for us.

"But we are not playing badly ourselves and we're certainly not worrying.

"It would be nice to get a few points on the board just to get us in that top half because I think we really deserve it the way we've been playing."

Rovers can chalk up a seventh home win of the season if they beat the Hammers tomorrow but they will have to do it without Craig Bellamy, who damaged a hamstring in training earlier this week.

Nevertheless, confidence remains high within the camp and Gray and his team-mates believe they can bounce back from last week's defeat against Everton with a strong performance.