Anton Not Knocked By Newcastle Defeat

EVEN though the result was not quite what they were hoping for, Anton Ferdinand believed there was much to be positive about in West Ham United's performance against Newcastle, stating that he did not think the result reflected Hammers display on the day.

He said: "It was a disappointing result for us because actually well. The scoreline does not reflect that, but another day I feel we would have come away with all the points.

"I'm not just saying that. Playing up against the likes of Michael Owen, especially when he's on top form, is a big task for any defence and team and there's points in the game of which we will learn from.

"But overall we passed the ball well and kept creating chances when they were going ahead and until the final goal we were far from out of the game.

"There's not going to be many other games that we play as well as that and not win. Playing up against Michael Owen is a challenge for any defence this season and it's situations like these that I learn from and other players do as well.

"We had chances, Hayden's effort hit the post, we had the ball cleared off the line a few times, one of them was blocked by Alan Shearer who was back helping to defend, so we put them under pressure and perhaps on another day, they would have all gone in, but it was not our day on Saturday."

Anton added: "People who didn't see the game might look at the scoreline and think it was an easy win for Newcastle, but those who were there, our fans, everybody at the game, knows that was not the case. I feel the performance showed again what we're capable of and we will take that into our next game at Portsmouth on Boxing Day and go again."

Anton was partnered again in the middle of defence by James Collins, with Danny Gabbidon still out with a gashed knee and he was full of praise for yet another Welsh international coming into the Hammers defence.

 He said: "James has come in and done a great job, we have confidence in each other's play and ability. We've worked together on the training pitch, to know enough about each other's game.

"As I said, there are things we can take from Saturday's game, playing against someone like Owen and use that experience to make us stronger."

As well as James coming into the team in the last week, Carl Fletcher made his second start for Hammers inside a week - according to Anton a sign of West Ham United's strength in depth.

He said: "The gaffer's bought well, the boys who have joined us this season have blended in well straight away and they've really added to the quality of the team.

"It will only make us stronger as we go into a tough period over Christmas and New Year."