West Ham's week of woe was wrapped up with a four-goal hammering at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

Danny Wilson's Owls showed no mercy for the wounded Eastenders as they plundered two goals in each half to keep the pressure on Harry Redknapp's men.

After an embarrassing cup exit at the hands of Third Division Swansea and the surprise sale of last season's top scorer John Hartson the Hammers needed to preserve their proud home record.

West Ham were unbeaten at home since early September but a composed and well-balanced performance from Wilson's team took full advantage of their brittle confidence.

The Hammers had opened positively as if to show they wouldn't miss Hartson, sold to London rivals Wimbledon on the eve of this Premiership clash.

The mood around the ground before the game had suggested Redknapp might have done good business to pick up £7.5 million for a player out of form.

But West Ham's first-half finishing showed an international class striker was urgently needed to lead their Premiership fight.

Ian Wright was missing through injury and Samassi Abou and Trevor Sinclair were handed the responsibility up front.

They couldn't penetrate a defence well marshalled by Des Walker and Emerson Thome but at the other end the Owls found it all too easy to locate the net thanks to a mixture of good fortune and cool finishing.

Defenders Neil Ruddock and Ian Pearce were first to chance their arm peppering the Wednesday goal with long-range efforts.

But Shaka Hislop found himself the busiest keeper in the first-half as Wednesday's Benito Carbone conducted a range of varied Wednesday attacks.

The little Italian, who has blossomed again since his countryman Paulo Di Canio vanished from Hillsborough, was given time to pick his spot from the edge of the West Ham area. But his chip was tipped over by Hislop.

Dutch midfielder Wim Jonk then connected sweetly with a half-cleared corner only for Eyal Berkovic to block bravely.

The fragile Hammers defence was breached in the 25th minute. A fine crossfield move was finished with a slice of luck.

Jonk and Carbone combined well to find Andy Hinchcliffe buccaneering down the left and his fierce low cross was diverted over the line by the dive of Hislop. A last-ditch effort to scramble the ball away failed.

The Owls made it two, again down their left flank. Jonk, enjoying plenty of space in the middle of the park, released Petter Rudi with a neat pass and the Norwegian slammed home the chance clinically.

West Ham's latest bright young hope Joe Cole was thrown into action three minutes before half-time when Ruddock hobbled off injured but, with his team 2-0 down, he rarely had a chance to show his well-documented flair on the ball.

Instead, the teenage found himself chasing Wednesday's international midfielders around Upton Park and collected a booking for a shirt pull.

Redknapp's men rallied briefly after the interval but a goal from Ritchie Humphreys killed off their hopes.

The striker, in for the injured Andy Booth, muscled his way to the front of the queue to stab home a low Niclas Alexandersson cross from the right wing.

Carbone's trickery forced the fourth and final hammer blow. He nutmegged Marc Keller on the touchline before jinking into the penalty area and luring Pearce into a trip.

Referee Keith Burge pointed straight to the spot and Carbone leapt to his feet to stroke the ball into the top corner.

As if to typify a miserable day for the Hammers sub Paul Kitson saw a terrific volley disallowed for offside in the dying seconds.

Teams

West Ham: Hislop, Ruddock (Cole 42), Ferdinand, Pearce, Lampard, Lomas, Berkovic (Kitson 64), Keller, Minto, Abou, Sinclair.

Subs Not Used: Forrest, Lazaridis, Potts.

Booked: Cole, Keller, Pearce.

Sheff Wed: Srnicek, Atherton, Jonk, Walker, Carbone, Humphreys, Hinchcliffe (Briscoe 76), Thome, Rudi, Alexandersson, Sonner.

Subs Not Used: Pressman, Newsome, Whittingham, Agogo.

Booked: Sonner.

Goals: Hinchcliffe 26, Rudi 31, Humphreys 68, Carbone 73 pen.

Att: 25,642

Ref: K Burge (Tonypandy).