Sincs: No Sentiment

Trevor Sinclair reveals that he no longer looks out for Manchester City's results - despite supporting them from the terraces as a boy.

And nothing would please him more that inflicting another heavy defeat on City to keep up the record of beating them in the corresponding fixture on the previous four occasions the sides have met at Upton Park in the Premiership.

"It adds a bit of spice to the game; I watched City as a boy, having been brought up in Manchester and I did look out for their results.

"But now they are in our division I don't have the time - but I have a lot of happy memories of Maine Road from when I was a kid."

Adding even more spice is the fact that five West Ham old boys - Kevin Horlock, who this week signed a new contract with the club and who originally left West Ham for Swindon for just £30,000, Paulo Wanchope, Eyal Berkovic, Marc-Vivien Foe and coach Stuart Pearce - are all on the Maine Road payroll.

"Marc-Vivien and Eyal are back and will want to prove something; Eyal is a great player who can turn a game when he is on his game.

"I think I linked up well with him when he was here and I was sad to see him go; I missed the controversy with him and John Hartson but it was pretty clear after that he didn't want to be around."

When asked about whether or not he is relieved not to be facing Stuart Pearce on the pitch - he hung his boots up in the summer at City after Glenn Roeder let him go the previous year - he responds:

"Why? I never found him tough to play against when he was younger for Nottingham Forest and Newcastle; I thrive on challenges like that and it wouldn't bother me if he was playing or not."

He is more concerned with securing a first win of the season, whatever the cost, and adds:

"I don't even care if half the team don't do anything; it is not about how we play but what get out of it.

"I think there were some positive signs at Spurs and it looked as if we could have won or at the worst drawn - so it was a devastating blow to lose a goal which has kept us in a bad position in the league."

He insists no one is shirking their responsibilities and adds:

"It would be easy to hide now, for everyone to be pointing a finger, and for people not wanting to be part of it but we have to show that we are sticking together and believe in ourselves to get the next result.

"We are not getting the luck but it can't all come to luck; in the last couple of games we have been really up for it and let's hope we get the reward."

Trevor at least had the consolation of getting his first goal of the season on Sunday and he adds:

"It was a good feeling to get my first goal because after five games you are starting to think 'come on, don't go too many games without a goal'.

"It was quick thinking from Paolo to make it; he made good eye contact and hit a quick set piece.

"I was glad to get on the end of it - and it is good to have him back as he is a really bright player with a lot of experience.

"It was unexpected for the Tottenham defence but we were on same wavelength and we knew what we wanted from the move."

He says he has not hit peak form yet, though, and explains:

"There is definitely more to come from me; I don't know if it is not having as much of a break as I usually do in the summer but I have got the bit between the teeth now and I can't wait for the next game to come."

And, looking at the situation overall, he concludes:

"We need a clean sheet and have been working on that as a team; losing three goals on Sunday was not ideal because if you go away and score two goals you should get something from the game - leaking goals is definitely an issue.

"The fans got well behind us at Spurs and let's hope they get behind us again because I think they played an important part in us coming from behind twice."

He says that international ambitions are on a back burner and insists:

"That is far from my thoughts at the moment; I am just interested in getting West Ham out of this predicament."