Lars leaves on a high

Lars Jacobsen has headed off on UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying duty reflecting on a solid start to his West Ham United career.

He has been with Denmark this week before they travel to Porto to take on Portugal on Friday night. They then play host to Cyprus in Copenhagen next Tuesday before he returns to Chadwell Heath ready to try and help his new club make it five games unbeaten at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday week.

The defender has played a key role in the new-found rearguard stability at the Boleyn Ground, most recently shown in last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Fulham. It was a result he said was fair on both sides.

Jacobsen was impressive yet again as Avram Grant's side battled back from a goal down to grab a share of the spoils. The right-back praised the manager for his half-time tactical change, which saw the team switch from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 formation and Frederic Piquionne nod in a 51st-minute equaliser.

"You always look to win the games, especially at home, so obviously we're not buzzing but sometimes you have to be honest," he said. "Fulham did well, especially in the first half they gave us a lot of problems, so sometimes you have to take the point and be happy with that and look forward.

"We certainly didn't play the way we wanted to in the first half. We didn't pass it the way we wanted to. Fulham caught us a couple of times and it was probably deserved that they scored a goal.

"The manager changed the tactics a little bit at half-time, so it certainly helped us a lot. It was very good of him to do that and we scored an early goal which was very important for us to get the crowd going and get ourselves going in the game.

"I think we had a shot at it - we could have won it but we could have lost it as well. It was an open game in the second half and I think it was a better half for us."

Jacobsen, a 31-year-old with nearly 40 caps, is experienced enough to know that securing a draw when you do not play well is an important habit to get into.

With that Wolves game and then Newcastle United next on the fixture list - with a Carling Cup fourth-round meeting with Stoke City in between - the defender knows West Ham have a great chance to climb out of the relegation zone.

"We are always happy to take the positives. We have now won two and drawn two and we can't allow ourselves to look at the table right now because I don't think it is the position we belong. I think we belong further up the table and I'm sure we will collect the points that we need to get up there.

"Especially after the last four games, we can certainly take the positives. After a game like that, perhaps we didn't play up to our best level but we still got a point. That's very important for us to keep collecting the points."