Sam Allardyce admitted he suffered a few jitters as his Hammers made hard work of seeing off Coventry.
Allardyce praises Coventry keeper but hails 'fantastic' Hammers
Sam Allardyce admitted he suffered a few jitters as his Hammers made hard work of seeing off Coventry 1-0.
With Sky Blues goalkeeper Joe Murphy in inspired form, Allardyce's side had to wait until the 66th minute for Kevin Nolan to bag the goal which lifted them level on points at the npower Championship summit with Southampton.
Hammers boss Allardyce said: "We were all relieved when we saw it go in because we were all wondering whether it was going to happen for us or not today on the basis of how many chances we created and how good their keeper was.
"It was an outstanding performance from him (Murphy) and I was just getting a little worried in the last embers of the game that we weren't going to get what we deserved.
"There's always that nagging feeling about the quick breakout that the opposition might get and nick it as we've seen before here against Cardiff and Ipswich but gladly in the end we got what we thoroughly deserved.
"We've played, very, very well today and the only thing I can criticise the lads for is not winning by more goals. Everything else was fantastic.
"Without a doubt the suspended players being back made all the difference because we saw the quality and how we controlled the game and how often we persisted in pressurising Coventry who finally cracked in the end."
Sky Blues boss
Andy Thorn, while admitting his disappointment at the manner in which the goal was conceded, was quick to praise his side for their bumper Christmas points tally of six from nine available.
He said: "I thought the boys gave me everything. We stuck in there but towards the end it was disappointing to concede the goal, an appalling goal from our point of view.
"But I can't ask for any more effort from them because they were excellent and we could even have nicked something at the end. I thought we finished strongly.
"We stood up to them well and then as it went on I thought we got stronger and we started getting our own chances - and I thought one of them could have gone in for us.
"West Ham are going to be up there. They're well organised and well managed but I was a little bit disappointed that we didn't get anything.
"Joe Murphy pulled off some great saves, some for the cameras, some I thought he should have held. He really is a terrific keeper. We've had a good Christmas period, points wise and performance wise."
