"Bring it on," he says, "there are sentimental aspects, having spent so long there but all I am thinking about is the chance of another three points to push on.
"Glenn Hoddle knows what Les Ferdinand was capable of, I worked with him for many years, he had me in the England squad and I don't think I have anything to prove to him."
He says he is not looking at other teams' results, either, adding: "The situation we are in is that we have to win our games, no matter what anybody else does.
"If other teams lose, all well and good, but we can't concentrate on that, we can only think about what West Ham have to do."
Of Sunday's win at West Brom, when he was denied his first West Ham goal by the woodwork, he says: "It was as nerve wracking on the pitch as it must have been to watch, but it is was always going to be a tough game.
"It was scrappy and I didn't think it was going to be one for the football philosophers out there - it was a case of digging in and trying to get the result, which is exactly what we did.
"We were disappointed to concede after doing so well to get in front; we had created a couple of chances before then and got the goal at the perfect time just before the break.
"We said keep it tight for the first 15 or 20 minutes because they are going to bombard us but even though we knew what to expect we didn't deal with it.
"Trevor was fantastic. We needed a big performance from all the players and he was exceptional, as was David James.
"Unfortunately I hit the crossbar but I will keep plugging away and as long as we are winning and continue to do so I am happy."