Trevor's Warning

Trevor Brooking has warned supporters not to get too carried away by the win at Old Trafford as the Hammers prepare to face Manchester United's title rivals Arsenal on Saturday.

He feels the midfield battle will be crucial, and says: "If Joe and Michael thought it could only get easier after Butt and Keane, I can assure them that Parlour and Vieira don't hang around!

"Keown alongside Campbell is a hugely competitive and strong defensive partnership and will not be easy to break down.

"Arsenal were absolutely scintillating against Aston Villa at the weekend, and Henry's pace is a huge concern.

"We have got to occupy Ashley Cole defensively and Lauren can be got at - I think it will be a great game and hopefully we can get something from it.

"The fans must be excited and the confidence is strong; the win on Saturday was our most focused and persistent display over 90 minutes."

Trevor, speaking on HammersLine, adds that the club could be in a much healthier league position come the new year.

"There are seven clubs within three points of us, and if we can get something from the Arsenal game and then do the business in the tough games against Leicester and Derby, the incentive is there to emerge from that flurry of games in December in the middle of the table pushing on the top places."

The key, he says, is to keep it tight at the back, and he concludes: "We have given a lot of bad goals away this season but rarely have we been given a bad goal at the other end.

"We have to try to erase the soft goals and continue to make it hard for teams against us."