Roberto endured a torrid time at West Ham before leaving in January

Manuel Pellegrini admits the poor form of goalkeeper Roberto contributed to him being sacked by West Ham.

The Chilean was dismissed by the Hammers in December following a poor first half of the campaign and was replaced by David Moyes.

His sacking came in the weeks after a number of high-profile mistakes by Roberto, who was signed by Pellegrini and former director of football Mario Husillos in the summer as a deputy to Lukasz Fabianski.

A hip injury suffered by Fabianski away at Bournemouth in September thrusted Roberto into first-team action, with the Spaniard unable to find any consistent form before being dropped in favour of third-choice David Martin.

Manuel Pellegrini says he was "hurt" by his dismissal from West Ham

"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," Pellegrini told Chilean newspaper La Tercera.

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

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Roberto has since been loaned to Spanish side Alaves for the remainder of the campaign, with Moyes bringing goalkeeper Darren Randolph back to the club from Middlesbrough.

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.

David Moyes was appointed as Pellegrini's successor in December

"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."

The 66-year-old added: "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".