Steve Clarke has told West Ham United fans to blame him - not manager Gianfranco Zola - for the club's current woes.

The assistant manager's desperate attempt to deflect attention away from Zola came after the Hammers crashed 3-1 at Bolton last night to sink to second bottom of the Premier League.

"If there are any faults, if anyone's looking to blame, they'll have to blame me," said the 46-year-old.

"I'm the guy they brought in to help Gianfranco. He's the novice manager, just in the game but if anyone wants to point fingers, point them at me. It's been another disappointing night for us. It's been a difficult time recently and tonight sort of summed it up."