Scott Parker has hailed the "fight and passion" in the West Ham United ranks after a tremendous display against the league leaders Chelsea.
The England midfielder has been nothing short of inspirational in recent weeks and was deservedly the man of the match in a thoroughly entertaining London derby. He may have relinquished the captain's armband to the commanding Matthew Upson on Sunday afternoon but Parker played a leading role as the team earned a 1-1 draw that could have been so much more.
It was not so much the point but the performance that delighted him most, ahead of the Boxing Day visit of Portsmouth. "That is important. It is a massive result for us. Obviously we would have loved to have got the three points but we have come out with one.
"We have another massive game coming up against Portsmouth. It is a big lift for us. A lot of people weren't expecting us to get anything and hopefully we now go and push on."
Alessandro Diamanti fired the Hammers in front with a penalty on the stroke of half-time after Jack Collison was upended but Chelsea were given a route back into the contest with a harshly-awarded spot-kick on the hour. Despite the disappointment of Frank Lampard's equaliser, Parker focused on the positives.
"It was a battle. It was do or die for us. We have gone out there and given it our all, including all out attack. We were coming up against a very good Chelsea side and one thing we have been lacking is a little bit of fight, a bit of passion and the gritty stuff. We definitely did that sort of stuff and we had to."
Of the penalty, Parker felt it was a harsh decision to punish Upson for a tremendous tackle on Daniel Sturridge but was not dwelling on the matter. "I don't think it should have been given. It is harsh. From where I was the ball has gone off at the angle and Matty seems to have tackled him. The linesman took it upon himself to give it. He thought it was and that's how it goes."