The Canaries have endured a miserable return from their festive fixtures, with defeat at West Brom halting a remarkable 10-game unbeaten Premier League run, while a 1-0 home loss to Chelsea on Boxing Day and a 4-3 defeat to Manchester City at Carrow Road on Saturday added to their woes.
Hughton, though, will take his squad to Upton Park on New Year's Day confident the group can maintain a safe distance from themselves and the battle for survival.
"We have gone through a difficult period, but we have also been against really difficult opposition," said the manager.
"We have been close in every game, lost by just one goal each time, so I think there are certainly a lot of positives we have taken from these defeats.
"However, we have to be realistic - we are going to lose games and it is tougher for us against the better opposition.
"But every match you play is an opportunity to bounce back and we will look to do that against West Ham."
Hughton added: "If you had asked me at the beginning of the season if I would be happy with the points tally we have at this stage, then yes, I would be.
"Now it is about getting back into good form and back to picking up points.
"Everyone is looking to get to 40 points, so we would like to get there too."
No excuse
The Irons have slowed somewhat since their fine early season form, winning just one of the last eight league games, and suffered a fifth defeat in that run when going down 1-0 at Reading.
However, with their Boxing Day fixture at Arsenal postponed because of industrial action by London Underground staff, Sam Allardyce's squad have had a slightly less congested fixture list over the last 10 days.
Hughton, though, will not look to use that as an excuse.
"I would have preferred if it wasn't called off and that West Ham had played the same amount of games as us, but it doesn't always work out that way. You just have to cope with what the fixtures are," he said.
"It will be a tough one away from home.
"They are a very good side at home and we need to get back to what we have been doing best."
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