'I want to win trophies'

Steve Clarke has set himself a target of winning trophies with West Ham United.

The first-team coach enjoyed a title-laden time at Chelsea, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, FA Cup and League Cup as a player before scooping two Barclays Premier League championships, another FA Cup and two League Cups as assistant manager.

Having entered his second year with the Hammers, Clarke insists he can enjoy success at the Boleyn Ground.

Before then, however, the 46-year-old knows his squad will need to end a run of five winless league matches when Fulham visit east London on Sunday afternoon.

"Success is something you have to ask about at the end of the season. Last year, was it successful? I think in the scheme of things, considering where we finished, it was a reasonable success.

"We have to look higher than that. I look higher than that and I want to win trophies. I was fortunate enough at Chelsea to have won a few and I enjoyed the feeling. I would like to do it again in the future and I would like to do that at West Ham, but we have to go a step at a time. We can't run before we can walk."

Following the visit of Fulham, West Ham will travel to Stoke City in a fortnight's time, and Clarke admits the Hammers are targeting wins from both fixtures.

"It's vital for us because we want to get as many points as we can. We're playing against a team that's close to us. If we win, we can go above them, which would be a good thing psychologically. We're under no illusions. Fulham are a good team, they are in Europe this year and it'll be a difficult game for us.

"I think we've shown that we shouldn't be worried about who we are playing. We've proved we can match all the top teams. We haven't beaten them yet, which is disappointing, but we're going on the right road. We've said it to the players all week that it's important to win sooner rather than later."

One player who could help the Hammers to record that important victory is Zavon Hines, whose recent form has seen him earn an England Under-21 call-up.

Hines has burst on to the scene following two years blighted by injury, and Clarke insists the 20-year-old will not be rushed into first-team action on a weekly basis until he is completely ready.

"You have to look at the bigger picture with young players. We have a duty to protect them. Zavon came off the bench against Man City and was lively again. He'll be involved again at the weekend, whether from the start or from the bench.

"Zavon has come from nowhere in a very short space of time and we have a duty to protect him, rather than just throw him into the team in every game and hope he's going to be fantastic."

Clarke and manager Gianfranco Zola have turned West Ham into one of the Barclays Premier League's most attractive sides since their arrival in September 2008. Regardless of events outside the club, the pair are maintaining a relentlessly positive outlook and say there is a togetherness at every level.

"The club moving forward needs to be that we start to win matches, that we continue our method with the way we want to play, hopefully playing good football and winning matches.

"That's what we need to continue doing, keep being positive and putting across a message that we're working. Things might be conspiring against us a little bit, but inside the club, we're all working together and moving forward."