ALESSANDRO DIAMANTI S corner was only half cleared by Blackburn and fell invitingly to Jack Collison on the edge of the box, writes DAVE EVANS. Instinctively he poked a shot goalwards and was ready to take the plaudits of the crowd when a slight deflectio

ALESSANDRO DIAMANTI'S corner was only half cleared by Blackburn and fell invitingly to Jack Collison on the edge of the box, writes DAVE EVANS.

Instinctively he poked a shot goalwards and was ready to take the plaudits of the crowd when a slight deflection pushed his low shot wide of the mark.

It was a similar hard luck story last Tuesday at Fratton Park. The 21-year-old Welshman had done everything right, combining superbly with Frank Nouble and then letting fly from inside the box, only for Asmir Begovic to make a spectacular save.

Things have become increasingly frustrating for the young midfielder since he scored back-to-back goals against Hull City and Burnley back in November.

He has been forced out to the wings, but has still managed to carve out plenty of chances - he just hasn't been able to convert one yet.

"I'm trying my best," confirmed Collison following Saturday's 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers.

"I'm definitely trying my hardest to score more and create more. It's something I'm trying to add to my game.

"It's been a little bit frustrating for me in the past few weeks, because I've had my chances, but haven't been able to convert them.

"But I'm not going to stop trying and hopefully they'll start to come."

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola was adamant that he was going to find players who could score from midfield, but just like last season, that hasn't really happened.

Diamanti has six goals to his name, but four of those were penalties, while Luis Jimenez (one penalty), Mark Noble (two, one penalty), Radoslav Kovac (one) and Valon Behrami and Scott Parker with none at all, have failed to boost the West Ham goal tally.

Collison accepts that the team need to do better, and he is pinpointing the next few games as vital to the West Ham campaign.

"We're very realistic," he said. "We know what situation we're in and we know the next few games are going to be massive for us.

"We play a lot of the teams around us and it's up to us to keep working hard and put some points on the table."

The arrival of Benni McCarthy will help to take the pressure off the likes of Carlton Cole and Guillermo Franco, but Zola will still want players like Collison to chip in and quickly.