MATTHEW Etherington has fond memories of playing against Ipswich
Town.
The reigning Hammer of the Year scored a magnificent goal against
the Tractor Boys in last season's memorable Play-Off semi-final
victory at Upton Park, and will be hoping for something similar
when West Ham visit Portman Road for the New Year's Day
showdown.
"It should be a really good game on Saturday," began
Matty. "Ipswich are top of the League and capable of playing
some excellent football, so it will be a really tough test for us
at their place.
"The Play Off victory last season was a very special match,
for everyone connected with West Ham. I'm sure after
experiencing that disappointment Ipswich will be out to put on a
really good performance against us.
"We have to be ready for that and hopefully we'll respond
in the right way. Everyone is looking forward to the game."
With the fighting second-half comeback against Rotherham still
fresh in their minds, Alan Pardew's men should go into the game
positive. However, Matt admitted that the Hammers will need to
raise their game to overcome the in form Tractor Boys.
"We can take heart from the way we came back in the
second-half at Rotherham," he admitted, "but we conceded
two very bad goals in the first-half and we can't afford to do
that against Ipswich.
"They have a lot of quality, especially going forward, and
we'll need to be very solid at the back and then take our
chances going forward.
"Without doubt it'll be one of our toughest games of the
season, but also a very important one, and it would be a great lift
for the Hammers fans if we could get a result there.
"We certainly have the ability to beat them, and a result
there would be a huge boost going into the New Year.
"We badly need to go on a consistent run and win a few games
in a row. The ability is there in the squad and we've shown
that we are good enough to be one of the promotion contenders.
"But for whatever reason we haven't done it consistently
enough so far this season and we need to change that going into the
New Year."
Like everyone at Upton Park, Matty is desperate to win promotion to
the Premiership, and admits that he understands the fans'
frustration when results aren't going the Hammers way.
"This is a very tough, open League," he said, "and
it throws up a lot of tricky games and unexpected results. Everyone
at West Ham - the manager, players, staff and above all fans - are
determined to win promotion this season. No one is more desperate
to make that happen than the players and management at Chadwell
Heath.
"We are all frustrated when things don't go to plan, but
we are still in there chasing the leaders and a good run over the
next couple of weeks will see us right back in contention.
"The fans have been terrific ever since I arrived at the Club
and we'll need them more than ever as we make a push for
promotion over the second half of the season."