ALAN Pardew insists that his Hammers side will not give up in their quest for automatic promotion.
West Ham have 12 Championship games remaining and currently sit 12
points adrift of the automatic promotion places, but Pards believes
a late Hammers rally could still see them make the top two.
"There is still a lot of football to be played," he said,
"and we're not out of the automatic promotion race
yet.
"We missed an opportunity up at Leeds. We played very well,
but took nothing from the game on a day when both Ipswich and Wigan
lost.
"If the top teams have blips we've got to be ready and get
ourselves in a position to capitalise.
"At the moment, it's important for us to cement our
position in the Play-off places. Our aim, of course, is to break
into the top two, but do that we first need to make sure we put
some daylight between ourselves and the teams just outside the
Play-off places.
"Once we're secure in the Play-off zone then it will give
us a great platform to make a final push for automatic
promotion.
"We need to create a window of opportunity for ourselves over
the last few games to really give it a go."
Pards knows that the visit of Preston will be a tough assignment
for his Hammers, as they look to put the Elland Road set-back
behind them. Mindful of Preston's 2-1 victory at Deepdale
earlier this season the Hammers boss is expecting a stern test of
his side's promotion credentials at Upton Park on Saturday.
"Preston have got some very good players, they're
organised and under Billy Davies they pass the ball very
well," he said.
"Their players are perhaps now performing to the level that
has been expected of them for some time. Richard Cresswell for
instance has been threatening to be a top player for some time, and
now is producing some high-quality displays. He'll be one
we'll have to watch.
"Preston play the type of passing game that we like to play
against, and it should make for an attractive game. But make no
mistake they are very hard to beat. They're tough at the back
and we'll have to be at our best to break them down."
West Ham's home record was the envy of the League before
Christmas and remains one of the strongest in the Championship. But
two League defeats at Upton Park already in 2005 has taken some of
the gloss off an otherwise strong record at the Boleyn Ground, and
Pards is keen to reassert his team's dominance in front of the
home fans.
"Our home record remains one of the best in the League,"
he said, "but that has been forgotten somewhat over the last
few weeks. It's up to us to reassert that dominance and find
our confidence again at Upton Park.
"In turn, that will create a more positive atmosphere inside
the Stadium. I know it's a tense time of the season, but we
need the home fans on our side.
Hopefully, they enjoyed a fine victory against Plymouth last time out and we can count on their magnificent support again against Preston."