After more than playing his part in helping West Ham United keep three clean sheets in a row in early December, Robert Green has been slightly less busy when building up his current trio of consecutive shut-outs.
Bar a brilliant reflex save in the 2-0 win at Hartlepool United and a 58th-minute stop from Jimmy Bullard in the 2-0 victory against Hull City, the goalkeeper has enjoyed superb protection from those in front of him. Such was the strength and resilience shown by his team-mates in Sunday's game at Arsenal, Green only had to make routine catches and clearances despite the home side seeing more of the ball.
"It's a tremendous effort by everyone and it shows if you don't concede goals you're not going to lose games," Green said. "The main thing is we keep going and keep the momentum going in the team and everybody is really encouraged by our recent run of form. We're playing as a team, everyone in the team is a happy camper and everyone is playing well."
The 29-year-old Green will face another test when the might of Manchester United visit the Boleyn Ground on Sunday, but Green is, understandably, optimistic about the Hammers chances of making it nine games unbeaten. "Confidence is good. The lads will get a rest before that game and Upton Park will be rocking. They're [Manchester United] are on a tremendous run of form but we're not doing too bad either. It's competitive so it should make it a great game."
The draw at the Emirates demonstrated another side to Gianfranco Zola's team, after they had impressed so much when going forward in recent weeks. Although Green was happy to pick up the point in north London, he says the players were disappointed not to have created more going forward. He said: "We took 20 minutes to get going really, but after a while we started to play. Going to Arsenal and getting a point is pleasing. I think we could have done more on the ball but we defended well and we limited their chances when they attacked."
"We'd have taken a point at the start but we're disappointed we didn't do ourselves justice in the footballing sense and the lads feel that. Disappointed is not really the word as we're walking off the pitch saying "Tremendous point" but we feel we could have played more football."
New signing Savio got his second taste of the Barclays Premier League and Green was impressed with the new No10's attitude in what could have been a daunting occasion. "Everyone was working hard and when Savio came on he was working hard and chasing. I'm sure it's a bit different from Brescia as running out at the Emirates is a bit different from playing in Serie B. I'm sure he knows he's still got a lot to learn but he's very young and I think he knows he's not the finished product just yet."