AS he has done so many times already this season, Teddy
Sheringham rolled back the years again on Saturday to inspire the
Hammers to a 2-1 win over Wigan.
The three points and his 18th league goal of the season were made
all the more special for the West Ham captain as Teddy celebrated
his 39th birthday at the JJB Stadium.
But with another vital clash against Burnley on Tuesday night
there's no time to rest on the plaudits, and Teddy insists the
Hammers will go into the clash at Turf Moor on a high.
"Wigan was a massive result and a hugely important three
points," he exclaimed. "It gave the squad a big lift and
we're going into the Burnley game with a real buzz around the
team.
"After the match the manager made it clear that we have beaten
Sunderland, Ipswich and Wigan away this season. They are the three
top teams in the League, and that says something about the way this
team is capable of playing.
"We know this team is good enough to take West Ham United back
to the Premiership, we just haven't shown that ability
consistently enough this season. But winning at Wigan has given us
a great platform to show over the remaining seven games that we
have what it takes to make a success of this season."
After keeping a lively Wigan at bay in the first-half and then
starting far more positively than the Latics in the second, Hammers
might have felt aggrieved to find themselves a goal behind after 51
minutes.
But not for the first time this season Alan Pardew's men showed
tremendous fighting spirit to come from behind and win, thanks to
goals from Teddy and match-winner Marlon Harewood. The former
England star was delighted for his strike partner Harewood.
"Marlon took his goal very well," admired Teddy,
"and hopefully the goals will really start to flow for him
over the final part of the season.
"With his style of play Marlon is always going to be a handful
for defenders. He worked very hard against Wigan and a few chances
came his way, so it was great to see him tuck away the winner.
"He's a very important player for us and I'm sure
he'll take plenty of confidence from his goal and performance.
"It was a blow when we went behind, but we certainly
didn't see it as game over because we'd been playing very
well up to that point.
"At the start of the second-half we were playing the better
football, and despite their goal no ones head went down.
"We had to really dig deep in the second-half to earn the
three points, but our fans were terrific and it was great to get
the win for them. Now we need to build on it with another good
showing at Burnley. This is an important week for us and
there's still a lot of work to do."
Despite the win at Wigan, Teddy is well aware that it still needs a
massive effort for the Hammers to secure their Play-off place, with
a host of teams chasing the Premiership prize.
"It's going to take a big push from now on," he
admitted. "We've started in the best possible way and we
need to keep it going.
"There are a lot of teams in and around us who will be
thinking along the same lines. If you look at the table I think the
third and fourth place teams are now pretty much secure in the
Play-offs, so there's really only two places to play for and
six or seven teams going for those two places.
"That's how tough it is. We've just got to make sure
we are one of those two teams come the end of the season."
Teddy's Birthday Best
4th April 2005