Pards' Cup Control

ALAN Pardew was disappointed to see his Hammers side go down by a single goal in the Carling Cup Third Round against Bolton, especially after West Ham United all but dominated the opening 45 minutes.

"That's twice now that we've played well against Bolton and not got the result," he said. "They had a good spell just before they scored the goal but that aside I thought we were in full control.

"We created some good moments, but let ourselves down in the final third and the only really disappointing part of the performance was that we didn't convert our good play.

"The goal was also a bit disappointing from our point of view because we should have cleared the ball during the build-up and again should have done better when the ball was put up to the back post.

"But I thought we looked very solid at the back. We were carrying a few injuries and perhaps with the exception of Gavin Williams who could have started that was the best team we could put out on the night."

Pards was particularly impressed with the performances of centre-backs James Collins and Elliott Ward, who coped comfortably with a lively Bolton attack and look to be pushing the first-choice pairing of Anton Ferdinand and Danny Gabbidon all the way.

"The defence was very strong," said Pards, "and the centre-backs were terrific. Elliott and James got their chance against Bolton and took it. I was very impressed with them and they did themselves no harm at all.

"Their passing from defence was spot on, their heading was excellent and they looked strong.

"We are blessed with four very good centre-halves at the Club. It's a really strong area for us, which is good because it's a vital area of the team and one where the competition is high.

"It's that kind of competition that we are striving to achieve all over the pitch."

Hammers came through the game without any further injury concerns, and look to have Jeremie Aliadiere returning to full fitness after seeing the early part of his Hammers career hampered by groin problems.

"We came through the game with no knocks," added Pards, "and it was good for a few of those players to get games under their belts.

"We should have one or two of the players that were missing on Wednesday night back in contention for the Liverpool game."