GOALKEEPER Jimmy Walker is delighted to have forced his way back
into the Hammers first-team, helping Alan Pardew's men take a
maximum nine points from their last three games.
But the popular stopper is keen not to make any assessment of his
first year in London just yet, instead setting his sights on making
this a successful first season at Upton Park.
"My aim is obviously to play as much as I can," he said,
"and to be honest it's great to have the buzz back,
playing in front of big crowds again.
"I haven't played as much as I'd like this season, but
I've promised myself that I won't start analysing the year,
looking at what went well and what could have gone better, until
the end of the season, because there's still so much to play
for.
"It's gone really well since I came back into the side,
though, and I couldn't ask for any more than three straight
wins.
"That bit of form is exactly what we needed and I've just
been glad to be a part of it. Now we need to keep working hard and
hopefully keep this good run going. We've got five games left
and they're going to be five really important ones.
"Hopefully, I can keep my place in the team and if we can get
that bit of success for the Club it would be a dream come true for
me in my first season here."
The former Walsall 'keeper proved his quality last weekend
against Coventry with two crucial saves either side of half-time
when the score was 0-0. But Jim is modesty personified about his
own performance, preferring instead to praise the efforts of the
men in front of him, in particular young centre-backs Anton
Ferdinand and Elliott Ward.
"The lads in front of me have been excellent," exclaimed
Jim. "Powelly and Tomas bring so much experience and the two
young lads, Anton and Elliott, are doing really well in there.
They've handled themselves incredibly against some of the best
strike forces in the Championship.
"Their performance at Wigan against two really top-class
strikers was fantastic. They faced a different test at Burnley
playing against the pace and power of Ade Akinbiyi, but they
handled that really well and again on Saturday kept some
experienced forwards quiet.
"It's my job to make saves and thankfully I was in the
right position to make the two against Coventry. More importantly,
two clean sheets against Burnley and Coventry is a great
achievement for everyone in the team and we'll need another
solid display against Millwall on Saturday.
"For my part, I try and talk to the young lads and use my
experience to help them, because if they're playing well that
makes my job a whole lot easier!"
Nevertheless, it's going to be a tough assignment for Alan
Pardew's men on Saturday with the visit of local rivals
Millwall. It will be Jim's first ever London derby, but the
31-year-old goalkeeper insists the players will approach the game
like any other.
"It's definitely going to be a massive game," he
explained, "but not just because it's Millwall. We really
need the points, so it would be a massive game whoever we were
playing.
"The players won't treat the build up to the game any
differently. We're expecting an edgy atmosphere and we have to
make sure we concentrate and keep our heads.
"But our approach will be the same to any big match. We just
have to play our own game and hopefully all the hard work of this
week will pay off and we'll get the three points we
need."
Jim Keeps His Cool
14th April 2005