J: Alan Will Improve Me

Jermain Defoe says that he is delighted that Alan Pardew has taken over as West Ham's tenth manager - and feels he will make him a better player.

Jermain scored the first goal of Alan's stewardship by way of an equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday evening, and Jermain says:

"The new manager looks good and he has got all the lads playing - and Nottingham Forest are a good team so I felt we did well.

"It is still early days but it is good; his time at Reading was amazing - I always used to say every time we played against Reading that they are a good side, and I like the way they play.

"He is a nice man, I have spoken to him a lot, and it is good signs.

"He has told me to keep on working hard and that he is going to make me a better player - which I appreciate - and that I am going to get my goals.

"I am going to enjoy working with him; his tactics and what I have seen so far have been great, and all the things that we have done in training have been good.

"Hopefully it will just carry on, but I was hoping he would get his first win because that would have been good for him - though at least we played well and we didn't lose."

Jermain's goal celebrations largely involved pointing to his head, and he smiles:

"I think it is my first header this season and I will try my best to get in there for some more!

"I think we should have won the game because we had the chances - and we should have had a penalty as well.

"I enjoyed the game and I thought the lads played well though the first half wasn't the best - but in the second half I thought we played a lot better."

Cardiff away on Saturday marks the first of three consecutive road trips and Jermain adds:

"We played Cardiff in the cup recently and they were a better side in the first half, though obviously we played better, really well, after the break and won.

"I think we can do well and get a result there; all the players are going to try and stay in the team and impress him.

"Looking at the three away games we have got I think we can do well."