Lars keeping the faith

Lars Jacobsen has had plenty of ups and downs in his career.

The West Ham United right-back has more than 30 full international caps for Denmark, appeared at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and won three Danish titles and appeared in the UEFA Champions League with FC Copenhagen.

On the flip side, Jacobsen struggled to make an impact in German football early in his career and endured two injury-affected seasons prior to joining the Hammers in August.

Having experienced both the good and the bad, the 31-year-old has the strength of character to help West Ham recover following Saturday's Barclays Premier League defeat at Arsenal.

Jacobsen played a full part in his team's stubborn defensive display at the Emirates, only for Alex Song's 88th-minute winner to leave the visitors crestfallen.

"It's the worst way to lose a game, really. We defended very well throughout the game. Arsenal had a few chances, to be fair, but we kept them to a low number and I think we did very well.

"As a team, coming to the Emirates is always difficult and I think we deserved a point in the end. Like I said, it's the worst way to lose and we're all very disappointed right now.

"We fight for each other. We showed that and it is something we have to take into the next couple of games as well because we know we can play football. Sometimes we didn't fight enough but we certainly did that on Saturday and if we continue to do that, I'm sure the points will come.

"We just have to forget about this game now. Obviously we're disappointed and will be until we have analysed the game but then we have to look forward to the game against Birmingham."

"The ability to bounce back is why we are here and some other players aren't here. That's the difference because you will always lose games in your career and always have ups and downs - if you can't get up from the downs, you will never reach the level of playing in the Premier League.

"Of course, we are professional football players. It's our job, so we'll get ourselves together and get the points we need."

What made things worse for Jacobsen and his colleagues was the fact that Song's late header came at a time when Arsenal looked to have run out of ideas.

Robert Green had produced a number of miraculous saves to keep Cesc Fabregas, Marouane Chamakh and Theo Walcott - earning praise from Jacobsen - while every player in a white away shirt had run themselves into the ground.

"You could feel the [home] crowd was not happy, you could hear it. The players were not happy and the game developed the way we wanted, really. We were just hoping we could pinch one on the counterattack.

"We didn't counter very well in the second half. We had some chances and half-chances in the first half. We kept them away from the big chances and Greeny in the goal saved tremendously a couple of times. That's the luck you need to have against a world-class team, so I really thought we had that point.

"I'm so pleased for Greeny and that he's playing very well. The last five or six games he's been a tremendous character in the goal and done very well."

While the final result was hard to take, Jacobsen insisted that he and his fellow players could not afford to let it affect their performance at Birmingham City next Saturday.

Instead, the defender will draw on his positive experiences for club and country and try to inspire his team to a much-needed victory at St Andrew's.

"It's always difficult away from home but we need to get some points starting next weekend at Birmingham. We need to take some points there.

"We have to be realistic - in the last seven games, we only lost two of those, so it's not that negative. I know we lost on Saturday and we lost the last home game and if you look just at them it's very negative, but we have to look at the bigger picture - seven games and two losses, three wins and the rest of them were draws.

"We have to take the positives from now on because it's not good if you're thinking about the games you lost because you won't take any points. You have to take the positives and look forward and we will do that."