Pards' Turn Around Challenge

ALAN Pardew has challenged his Hammers players to pull the Club out of a barren run of form after watching his side go down 2-1 at home to Derby.

The West Ham United manager admits that his team must take responsibility for putting themselves into a pressure situation and must respond with a tough FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Sheffield United up next.

"We are not going to hide from the fact that we've dug a hole for ourselves," admitted Pards. "Three League defeats on the spin is not good enough and it's increased the pressure on us.

"I have to look for character from the players this week. We are in a tense position now, but it's of our own making and we have to prove that we are big enough to deal with it."

Despite being a long way from their best, West Ham could feel aggrieved at not having earned a share of the points against the Rams. In the first-half the referee made a crucial decision not to send off Derby goalkeeper Lee Camp for what looked a blatant professional foul on Marlon Harewood, and the visitors' 'keeper went on to make crucial second-half saves.

However, Pards was candid in his assessment of the team's performance.

"I'm not going to say we played well and deserved to win," he said. "We were far from terrific today, but I did think we did enough to earn a share of the points.

"We created a few excellent chances and saw two great opportunities cleared off the line.

"The decision not to send off the goalkeeper had a major effect on the game. It was a great opportunity to score and had to be a red card. Their 'keeper then went on to make two vital saves.

"But we conceded two very bad goals, and you can't afford to that at any level and expect to come away with something.

"On the first we didn't deal with their movement and at the time of the second we were trying to change our formation around and got caught. The marking for both was very disappointing.

"Derby are a good side though, who pass and keep possession very well. They've got a great record away from home and once they'd gone ahead it was very difficult for us to break them down."

Sadly, Gavin Williams limped off the field after just seven minutes of action with an ankle injury. But one positive from the game was the performance of his replacement, 17-year-old Mark Noble, who yet again proved he is more than capable at senior level.

"Mark was probably our best player against Derby," said Alan. "I don't want to talk too much about Mark and force unnecessary pressure on him.

"He's a young lad who has had a really big couple of weeks for us. But his exuberance when he came on really gave us a lift and he proved yet again that if he keeps applying himself in the right way then he can have a bright future for West Ham United."