Freddie Sears admits his relief at ending his West Ham goal drought and now wants to produce prolific form.
Youngster ends two-year wait for goal and now hopes they will flow
West Ham forward Freddie Sears has admitted his relief at ending his goal drought and now hopes he can spearhead the club's survival bid.
The 21-year-old grabbed a first goal since scoring on his debut in March 2008 as the Hammers climbed off the bottom of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over relegation rivals Wolves.
Sears had only just been recalled by Hammers boss Avram Grant from a loan spell at Scunthorpe, having also spent Championship stints at Crystal Palace and Coventry.
The boyhood West Ham fan hopes the goal can earn him extra playing time under Grant and will do all he can to help the Hammers beat the drop.
"It has been a long wait, but is now a weight off my shoulders," said Sears, who coolly slotted home from 12 yards with 10 minutes left.
"It has been hard at times, when you are looking for goals and the ball is just not going in, so it is great to get that goalscoring feeling and hopefully I can keep it up.
Depleted
"Coming back here, I did not expect to go straight into the team and play the next three games like I have.
"It has been good and has given me a lot of confidence.
"The manager has shown a lot of faith in you and now you just have to go out and keep your position in the team."
Given West Ham's options have been depleted by injury, it was a welcome boost to see two more Academy graduates in the starting XI on Saturday, with James Tomkins and Junior Stanislas also making an impression alongside Sears.
Grant, though, is expected to bring in at least a couple of fresh bodies during January, having been strongly linked with a move for midfielder Steve Sidwell from Aston Villa as well as £2million-rated Cardiff striker Jay Bothroyd.
"We will try to do business because the squad is short," the West Ham manager confirmed.
"We have a lot of games and are trying to bring more good players to us.
"We know that if everybody is fit we have a good squad, but anyway, any player who can improve the squad we will take him."
