Former West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini believes the form of goalkeeper Roberto Jiminez contributed to his dismissal.

Pellegrini was relieved of his duties at the east London club just three days after Christmas following a run of nine defeats in 12 games.

He told La Tercera: "Unfortunately, we had a major injury, from the goalkeeper [Lukasz Fabianski] of four months. And the performance of the second [Roberto] was not as expected.

"He had responsibility in several goals. The team was losing confidence, the results were denied and the owners decided to change."

Roberto joined Spanish club Alaves on loan during the January transfer window.

Pellegrini added: "In football, the first thing that one must understand is that you always have the responsibility. You can fall into those negative streaks.'

"The players lose confidence and you, as a coach, must find the solution. You don't always find it and sometimes the board don't have patience.

"It has happened to Mourinho, Pochettino, Emery … What happens is that it never happened to me.

"It [The sacking] hurt me. It is the first time in 20 years that I did not finish the season. In all clubs the season was over.

"At Real Madrid I did not finish my contract, but the season did. I hadn't stopped in the middle of the season for 20 years."