Pards Insists Hammers Can Still Make It

ALAN Pardew assured fans that Hammers still have a very realistic chance of securing a Play-off place, despite dropping two points with the 1-1 draw at home to Millwall.

"We can still do it," he insisted. "We've gone six games undefeated and the level of performance we've shown over those games has been good.

"It's going to be tough and now we really need a good result at Stoke. But we'll go there in good heart and we need to stay positive and focus on doing our job in that game."

Pards confessed that despite a solid display against the Lions, his side lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

"We didn't show enough quality in the final third," he said. "I was pleased with the back four who looked strong throughout the game and dealt well with two very experienced Millwall strikers.

"There was a lot of focus on Elliott Ward before the game, playing against his brother, and I think he handled himself very well.

"The atmosphere inside Upton Park and the support we got from the fans was tremendous. It's been like that for the last few weeks now, and hopefully that backing will continue until the end of the season, because their support will be crucial now.

"We were disappointed with the goal, it was a bit of a sloppy one to give away, but we came back at them really well and the move for our goal was excellent.

"After making it 1-1 we should have put them under more pressure at the back, but they defended well.

"It was a tough battle for us in midfield, but Mark Noble did really well in there again and really showed his quality.

"Millwall looked to slow the game whenever they could. They didn't put us under a great deal of pressure in the second-half, but they got behind the ball and made it difficult for us to get past them.

"The efforts of the players couldn't be faulted, though. We didn't quite get the breakthrough, but there's no reason why we shouldn't be optimistic going into the Stoke game."