West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic, stated that he is looking for his side to adopt a clean sheet mentality, ahead of Sunday's clash with Liverpool.

Having the mentality

The Hammers have been struggling over the last few weeks, with the side dropping into the relegation zone after Swansea's 3-0 victory over Sunderland.

It is complete contrast to a few weeks previous when they hot in form, but have managed to concede nine goals in two games and Bilic stated that the Hammers need to adopt a clean sheet mentality.

“We’ve had three clean sheets, against Bournemouth, against Sunderland and at Crystal Palace,” Bilic told whufc.com.“You can’t be guaranteed a clean sheet but you have to have a clean sheet mentality."

“No team can guarantee they aren’t going to concede a goal," he stated. "No matter who you are playing against,."

"But you have to have a hunger and mentality that I’m calling ‘clean sheet’," the Croatian admitted. "No matter what the result it. With that, it can be 2-0 against Arsenal. It doesn’t have to be 5-1."

“It’s my responsibility because we can’t crumble," Bilic added. "For me, ‘clean sheet’ is more about mentality."

Going to use him

The big boost for Bilic will be the return of striker Andy Carroll. The striker returned to action for the first time since August last weekend, and managed a goal on his return to side in he 5-1 defeat to Arsenal.

Bilic confirmed that Carroll would make an appearance against his former side, but was less coy on whether or not he would start at Anfield.

“It’s a good question and one I’ve thought a lot about in the last few days," he said. "Because we have to manage him.”

“It doesn’t mean he isn’t going to start against Liverpool," he admitted. "I’m not saying that, but the last game he played before the Arsenal game was in Romania in the first week of the season."

“That’s a long break and we have three games and we need him in all three of them," the coach affirmed. "But we can’t be that greedy."

“We’re going to use him, most definitely in all three of them," Bilic concluded. "Because we need him in all three of them. Is he gonna start on Sunday? I don’t know!”

West Ham United will take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, December 11 with kick-off at 4:30pm GMT.