Robert Green's chances of adding to his two England caps were certainly not harmed after an assured performance in the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers.
The West Ham United goalkeeper had a busy afternoon at Ewood Park as the home side launched a second-half aerial bombardment on his goal. But they found Green and his defenders in a defiant mood, as crosses, long throws and set-pieces were all dealt with superbly in what was a resolute defensive showing.
"It was a backs-to-the-wall job at times. They are difficult to play against as they play to their strengths," Green said. "We played to our strengths and they are two different things. We needed every inch of player and power we had today. The balls that came into the box, they know that some of the loose balls will fall to them.
"I thought that we played well. We scored a wonderful goal and it was a game where if you look at seasons gone by, five minutes into the second half and playing with the crowd on your back, we could have crumbled. But everyone stood up to it. It was one of them that you don't really, but you could enjoy it in a perverse way."
Green used his full repertoire of catches and punches to deal with every Rovers delivery that came near him, and bar Keith Andrews' goal five minutes after the interval, rarely looked troubled. The stopper believes that mastering that art of playing in goal is all about making the right decisions at the right times. He said: "It is ok for someone saying "come for everything and help everyone out" but then sometimes it is very difficult if you are not going to catch it when you come.
"You have to be clinical about things. It is about the choices you make and it is a different challenge and if we had kept a clean sheet it would have been up there with the best. But that said, we did everything right and you walk off the pitch and thought that we worked hard for the point."
Green's display will no doubt have caught the eye of the watching England goalkeeping coach Ray Clemence. The former Norwich City stopper played the second half of England's last match - a 2-0 defeat to Spain in Seville - and will be hoping to cement his place in the England goalkeeping set-up with another run out in the friendly with Slovakia at Wembley on Saturday.
"There are England scouts watching games everywhere. If they weren't you would wonder. I have no idea whether I will get a chance this time. It was great to get a half against Spain last time. I just need to carrying on doing my stuff here and keep working hard and hopefully [get a chance]."
After collecting several dangerous-looking deliveries, few would have guessed that just five days previously, parts of Green's tongue had been flaking off after being caught by a stray elbow against West Bromwich Albion. Green, in his typical calm manner, though, just wanted to get on with the job in hand.
"I have had worse [knocks]. Some of my tongue was falling off but they say that the tongue is the quickest healer and it has healed almost completely. The difference on Monday night, when it happened, to Tuesday morning was incredible."
The 29-year-old Green was not the only Hammers player to impress on Saturday, as all 11 players weighed in with their defensive duties. Central defenders Lucas Neill - returning to his old club - and 19-year-old James Tomkins, who seems to be growing in stature and confidence with every first-team game played, particularly caught the eye. Green was suitably impressed.
"Tomkins is coming on leaps and bounds. He is a tall lad and he is learning that there are guys in the Premier League that are going to be so big and strong , like Jason Roberts was, and a player needs to know when to stand off and when to challenge. He is picking that up now and was tremendous again.
"Lucas orchestrated from the back as he can. He is a tremendous asset to have and a tremendous voice during the game - particularly on Saturday when the lads were looking to him to guide the team through. When there is so much going on, so much frantic stuff, someone like Lucas is invaluable. I am sure that he had some extra motivation to do well there too."
There was another positive for West Ham as Kieron Dyer made a successful comeback from the calf injury that has kept him sidelined since his last appearance against Fulham on 18 January. The former England midfielder looked lively when on as a substitute and arguably could have helped win the game for the visitors when he was bundled over in the box by Christopher Samba, only for referee Chris Foy to rule no penalty. Green was just happy for Dyer to be back on the pitch after such a long journey back from injury.
"He looked really sharp when he came on. If he can come back well and you aren't going to be asking him to charge about the pitch for 90 minutes every game, but if he does his part between now and the end of the season, it will seem like another great acquisition.
"It must have felt that there was no light at the end of the tunnel for him after the injury. Every player may go through it. I went trough a similar thing as a kid and you feel that there is no light. You feel better when you are better but when you have a serious injury, it can be pretty frustrating for him to actually get out on the pitch must be a boost for him after what has happened. His pace when he came on was important."