Jeremie Points The Way

WEST Ham United's latest signing Jeremie Aliadiere made his debut as a substitute in the game against Bolton, but confessed that he would have rather stayed on the bench if it meant Hammers would have come away with their just rewards from an evenly contested encounter.

The French forward, on a season-long loan from Arsenal, came on after an hour with Hammers a goal behind and injected pace and flair to the right-hand side of midfield.

But Jeremie believed Alan Pardew's men deserved something from the game and despite his delight at making his debut it's points that count for the 22-year-old.

"Obviously I was very pleased to make my debut, especially at home with such a good crowd there," he said. "I came on for 30 minutes and tried to get forward from the right and get us back into the game.

"Unfortunately as we were pushing forward Bolton scored a second and it made it too difficult for us to come back. It is good to get my career at West Ham United started and now I hope to push on from here.

"But for the team it is the points that matter and we deserved to take at least a draw from the game. We played well throughout the 90 minutes and had some good chances to score ourselves, so we were disappointed in the dressing room not to have got a better result."

The Hammers squad now have a two week break before they take on Aston Villa at Upton Park in their next game, time for Jeremie and his team-mates to put in some hard work on the training pitch and continue their strong start to the season.

"The team have had two good results in their first two matches and we played well again against Bolton," he explained. "There is a lot to be positive about. Now we have two weeks before the next game and that will give us time to work hard on the training pitch to make sure we are ready for the next match.

"For me it's also a time I have to put in the work to make sure I get back to full-fitness. I haven't played a lot of games so far this season so I still need to bring my fitness up to the standard that you need at this level.

"I will work hard to do that over the next two weeks and hopefully by the next match I will be feeling a lot fitter."

Jeremie knows that he also has two crucial weeks in which to impress manager Alan Pardew as he strives to earn a place in the starting line-up.

"I came here to play as much first-team football as possible," he agreed. "It is my aim to play and do well in as many games as possible for West Ham. I have to work hard in training and hopefully I can make it hard for the manager to leave me out.

"But there is lots of competition for places at the Club and there are other strikers, not just me, who are desperate to play in the team.

"I came on to play on the right against Bolton, which I have done before, although it is not my natural position and I feel my strengths are better suited to playing up front.

"But on the right I can use my pace to go past players and if that is where the manager wants me to play then I will have no problem with it."

Having plied his trade at Highbury for the past four years Jeremie certainly knows a thing or two about what it takes to do well in the Premiership. But the striker has seen enough at Upton Park already to convince him that Alan Pardew's team could achieve a good finish in the top-flight this season.

"This is a young team with a lot of talent," he insisted. "It is an organised and disciplined team, but we can also pass the ball very well and move the ball around quickly.

"Pace is very important in the Premiership and there is lots of pace and power in this team. It is a young and athletic team, with some experienced players who are able to help the younger ones.

"I think West Ham United have a very good chance to stay in the Premier League and do very well this season."



* YOUSSEF SOFIANE has left West Ham United. The French striker's contract has been terminated by mutual consent. Sofiane first arrived at the Club in the summer of 2002 but struggled to make an impact at first-team level, making just one substitute appearance in the League and one start in the Carling Cup.