Hammers defender keen to praise others despite his superb display

Modest West Ham defender Jonathan Spector was keen to praise his team mates after their thumping 4-0 win over Manchester United last night.

The American was the unlikely star of the show scoring twice from the unfamiliar surroundings of central midfield, where his energy up and down the pitch were central to his side’s success.

“I was fortunate that I played with a team who played so well. Everyone was fantastic and we got our reward for playing well.

“It was a fantastic result, no doubt about it, but to score two goals really was the icing on the cake.”

Spector had played in midfield before in 2007 when the Hammers destroyed Derby 5-0, a game where he had a goal cruelly taken away from him by the Dubious Goals Panel.

It’s a role he enjoys and one not as alien to him as you may think.

“I have been training to play in central midfield for a couple of weeks because of the injury problems and growing up I started off by playing as a central midfield player before becoming a defender,” he said.

“I was quite excited about playing in midfield when I was told by the boss and I think playing alongside an experienced player such as Radoslav Kovac really helped and because he is a defensive-minded player it allowed me to get forward more.”

It certainly worked against United and with West ham only two games away from Wembley, Spector is obviously keen for a repeat performance.

“Of course Wembley is in the back of your mind. It’s such an historic venue and I would imagine a great place to play,” he said.

“I’ve only ever seen an NFL game there so it would be fantastic to play there, but we still have two games to get through first.”

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