Joey O’Brien has hailed the resilience of West Ham as they look to reclaim top spot in the npower Championship with victory over Blackpool on Tuesday.
The Hammers have taken four points from their last two matches, with victory over Millwall despite having captain Kevin Nolan sent off early followed by a 1-1 draw with current table toppers Southampton.
That leaves Sam Allardyce’s side two points off the summit with two games in hand over the Saints, making the visit to Bloomfield Road an important one for the visitors.
“Our performances against Millwall and Southampton were good, so hopefully that will continue,” full-back O’Brien told www.whufc.co.uk on Monday.
“Against Millwall, going down to 10 men so early on in the game, a lot of lads stood up and were counted. We were in the trenches that day.
“We were up against it in that game and then against Southampton, the way it happened.
“Obviously they are a very good side but we hung in there, put our bodies on the line and played some decent stuff.”
The Seasiders come into the match with some impressive league form behind them, though.
They lost 2-0 to Premier League side Everton in the FA Cup last time out but are on a seven-match undefeated run in the Championship, where they have not been beaten in 2012.
Gary Taylor-Fletcher was taken off against the Toffees with a knee injury and Alex Baptiste needed stitches for a cut, placing question marks over both for the match.
Holloway told www.blackpoolfc.co.uk: “I’ve got a couple of injuries and a couple of bruised egos but we’ve got to dust ourselves down and get on with it.”
Middlesbrough have seen their automatic promotion push derailed since the end of the year, dropping to eighth in the table after defeats to the likes of Blackpool, Burnley and Coventry and draws against Crystal Palace and Leicester since the turn of the year.
They returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest last week and will now look to repeat the result at Millwall.
Boro manager Tony Mowbray received a boost before the match when he tied Rhys Williams to a new four-and-a-half-year contract.
Mowbray hopes the Australian can continue his good form and play a part in restoring the club to the top tier.
“Rhys is an important cog as we move forward trying to build a team to get us into the Premier League,” he said.
“This is an important statement from the club, to tie down one of the players we feel we can move forward with.”
In Tuesday’s third and final match, play-off hopefuls Birmingham visit Barnsley.
