Hard night for Spector

Jonathan Spector is determined to help West Ham United bounce back after Nonday's 3-0 Barclays Premier League defeat by Liverpool at Anfield.

The West Ham United defender has vowed to come back stronger when the Hammers entertain Wigan Athletic on Saturday. "We weren't at our best, unfortunately," he said. "We went out with the right mentality and knew what we wanted to achieve but it didn't happen for us.

"It's a difficult place to play, particularly when you go a goal down. We were chasing it from then on. A couple of times, we played some good football and looked like we might create something, but it didn't happen for us. I think, had we been able to get a goal before half-time, it could have changed the game."

While he was far from being the only player culpable for Monday's defeat, Spector admitted to being disappointed by former team-mate Yossi Benayoun being able to get free and nudge Steven Gerrard's free-kick past Robert Green for the opening goal.

"Every time a goal goes in, it's obviously disappointing. It's frustrating when something like that happens. "It was obviously a great ball in from Steven Gerrard and something he does extremely well but, at the same time, it was disappointing that we weren't able to do anything to affect it."

Spector said one plus from the trip to Anfield was the performance of the 1,000-odd travelling fans, who out-sung their hosts for the umpteenth time this season.

"We're obviously thankful for the fans' support, particularly at difficult times like this. We could hear them more than the Liverpool fans, and it was certainly heartening to hear them."

Despite their defeat, Spector said the Hammers would regroup ahead of Saturday's visit of a resurgent Wigan to the Boleyn Ground.

The Latics arrive having recovered from two goals down to beat Arsenal 3-2 on Sunday, but the United States international insisted that result would mean nothing this weekend.

"We're looking to the next game because that's all we can do at this point. We just have to put this one behind us and move on.

"It's must-win and that's certainly what we'll be looking to do from the first minute to the very end. All our minds will be focused on is winning the game.

"No matter how they did, I think we'd be looking for a way to turn things round for our benefit. That's fair enough. I'm not really concerned with how they are approaching the game. It's about how we approach the game that matters."