Teddy Hails Marlon Master Class

TEDDY Sheringham more than played his part in a virtuoso Hammers performance that saw Alan Pardew's team sweep aside Aston Villa 4-0 at Upton Park.

But afterwards the former England star was quick to lavish praise on his strike-partner Marlon Harewood, who fired the Premier League's first hat-trick this season to see off Villa.

"Marlon was excellent," exclaimed Teddy. "He is always a handful for defenders and against Villa his pace and power was too much for them.

"The team know that there are a lot of goals in Marlon and given the chance he can be a really dangerous striker at this level.

"None of the finishes were easy and he took each goal really well. All the lads were delighted for him and I'm sure the hat-trick will do a lot for his confidence."

Despite his appreciation of Harewood's three-goal haul Teddy did explain that it had been an excellent team performance to defeat an Aston Villa side packed full of Premiership experience.

"Villa are by no means a bad side, but right from the start we took the game to them," he said. "It was a really good team performance. Our movement was good, we worked hard for each other and attacked with real purpose.

"At the back we looked solid and always seemed to have things under control. It was a dominant performance and to do that against a side like Aston Villa will be a huge boost in confidence for the team.




















"We've come along way in a short space of time, but there is a great deal of spirit in the dressing room and that's really transfering out onto the pitch.

"The team is playing at a great tempo and we're enjoying our football."

With a wealth of Premier League experience to his name, Teddy is cautious not to get too carried away with Hammers great start to the season.

Seven points from four games leaves Alan Pardew's men seventh in the table, with esteemed names such as Arsenal and Liverpool trailing in their wake.

But Teddy is altogether more circumspect about West Ham United's prospects this season.

"We'll just have to wait and see," he said when asked how far the Hammers can go this season. "It's important that we just treat each game on it's merits and go out there and give it the best we can.

"At the end of the season we'll see where that leaves us."