Allardyce relieved as West Ham impress at home

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce admitted he was a relieved man as his side boosted their bid for a quick return to the Premier League with a 4-0 win over Blackpool.

Allardyce’s team moved into second place in the Championship after three goals in eight second half minutes demolished the Seasiders at Upton Park.

The Hammers have struggled on home turf this season but John Carew set them on their way with a 12th minute header and Blackpool collapsed after the break as a Sam Baldock double and Jack Collison’s strike completed the rout.

Baldock struck in the 47th and 51st minutes before Collison netted four minutes later.

“It (the home form) has been our Achilles heel as everybody knows and we got everything right today,” Allardyce said.

“We were defensively sound, quality of play in possession, quality of finishing when the opportunities arose and it’s not often I can say I’m a little disappointed that we only scored four.”

Southampton manager Nigel Adkins’ insisted his side won’t get carried away by their success after Rickie Lambert’s goal gave the leaders a 1-1 draw against fourth placed Derby at Pride Park.

Theo Robinson opened the scoring for Derby in the third minute when Ben Davies’ shot was parried by Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis, only for the Derby midfielder to lay the ball to Robinson who fired into the bottom right corner from close range.

Lambert then levelled the scores in the 61st minute to keep the Saints on top of the Championship, two points aheaf of West Ham.

“One thing you will not see is this side taking its feet off the ground. They are a very level-headed bunch and to underline the need to stay grounded we showed the players a DVD of something we found on YouTube,” Adkins said.

“It shows a boxer strutting into the ring and showing off with a lot of fancy footwork only to get laid out cold and knocked out with the first punch of the bout. You will not catch this side show-boating like that.”

Middlesbrough set a new club record but boss Tony Mowbray was in no mood to celebrate after his third placed side were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Millwall at the Riverside Stadium.

Boro looked to be cruising after taking the lead in the first half with a Barry Robson shot but in the second half they let Millwall back into the game and sloppy marking from a corner let the Lions level through Liam Trotter.

The point took Boro to a landmark 11th game unbeaten since the start of the campaign, the best start since the club stepped up to the professional ranks in 1899, but Mowbray said: “Listen, records are nice but the important thing for us is to be up there in May.

“And yes we are still unbeaten and that’s a good thing but right now we all feel a little frustrated because that was a game that probably we should have won.”

Crystal Palace beat Watford 2-0 at Vicarage Road thanks to second-half goals by Wilfred Zaha and Jermaine Easter.

Lukas Jutkiewicz scored the only goal as Coventry beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the Ricoh Arena.

Elsewhere, Cardiff and Ipswich shared the points in a 2-2 draw at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Peterborough condemned managerless Bristol City to their seventh league defeat of the season, beating the bottom club 2-1 at Ashton Gate.

Reading defeated Burnley 1-0 thanks to Jem Karacan’s goal deep into stoppage time.

 

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