Clean Cut Carroll

ROY Carroll more than played his part in the 0-0 draw at St James' Park against Newcastle United on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Northern Ireland international made two excellent second-half saves to deny the Magpies and celebrated his first clean sheet in comeptitive football for the Hammers.

"It was a terrific team performance," said Roy, "and to go to Newcastle, have a man sent off and come away with a point is a really good result for the Club.

"It was a tough match, but I thought we more than matched them throughout the game and the work rate on our part was fantastic.

"I had a good view of the sending off incident and from where I was it definitely looked like Paul played the ball first. It looked a really good challenge, but the referee saw it differently and after that we had to really dig in for the result.

"I was pleased to make a couple of saves for the team, but it was the lads in front of me who really did the Club proud. The defence was fantastic and Anton Ferdinand and Danny Gabbidon both had tremendous games.

"We came under a little bit of pressure in the second-half, but I thought we coped really well with going down to 10 men and in the end I don't think anyone would say that Newcastle out-played us."

The point from their North East trip means Hammes have now taken four points from a possible six to open their Premier League campaign, but the strong start is no surprise to Carroll who has been impressed with the set-up since arriving at Upton Park.

"We did some really good work during pre-season and from the moment I arrived there has been a really good spirit amongst the squad," he said. "There was a lot of confidence around the Club after the Play-off Final win and that has carried through into the start of this season.

"We've got young players at this Club who are improving all the time and I think a few of them will really make their mark on the Premiership this season.

"There was a lot of hard work done during pre-season, but it's paying off now because we came into the season feeling ready, fit and confident about the way we could perform.

"Obviously the win over Blackburn and then drawing at Newcastle have given us a big boost. We knew that the start of the season was going to be important and it's gone well for us so far.

"We won't be getting carried away though. This is going to be a long season and it's important that we stay focused and concentrate on the next game, which is going to be another tough one at home to Bolton on Saturday."

Roy has certainly been delighted with the performance of his back four over the opening two games.

"The lads at the back have done really well," he said. "It's an area we've worked hard on and one where we've got young, talented players who are only going to get better.

"Danny Gabbidon, Anton Ferdinand and Paul Konchesky are all very good young players who work hard at their games, and then you've got Tomas Repka at right-back who is a great professional.

"Then there's the likes of James Collins and Elliott Ward who are pushing hard for a place in the team, so in that department we are looking strong at the moment.

"But the whole squad has a good feel about it at the moment and now we're just looking forward to the next game."