Hammers midfielder targets fourth away win at Millwall

Hammers midfielder Matt Taylor was delighted to open his account in claret and blue on Saturday in the 4-3 win against Portsmouth.

After going behind to Luke Varney’s deflected effort early in the first half, the Hammers won a free kick 25 yards out from goal.

And up stepped Taylor to curl an effort into the left-hand corner to get West Ham back on level terms.

“I was just thinking about sticking it into the back of the net,” said Taylor.

“To be honest, I was happy to see it go in.”

Taylor has been in a rich vein of form since his summer move to east London, and has featured heavily in West Ham’s strong early season form, providing assists for a third of the Hammers’ league goals this term.

“I think when you break it down, my form has been alright,” said the former Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers midfielder.

“I’ve made a few goals and now I’ve got one I’m happy.

“But the main thing is that we are winning football matches as a team.

“It is great to play well individually, but the team is the most important thing and that is why we are here.”

Taylor also revealed that he was happy for the fans following the Hammers’ first home win of the season.

“It was certainly overdue, but it hasn’t been that long when you think it was only our third game,” he said.

“It was important to get that win and hopefully it will get people, not exactly off our backs, but there is so much pressure when you come here because the fans are so passionate.

“I’m just glad we won today, for them more than anyone else.”

With Millwall next up for the Hammers, Taylor is confident that the team can cope with what is sure to be a hostile atmosphere this weekend.

“I think we will cope well,” he said.

“When we play away from home we seem to play with a bit more freedom, so I would expect us to play well and if we do I would expect us to get a positive result.

“When you look at the players we have got there is an awful lot of quality and I would suggest there are a few Premier League teams that would like our squad.

“So we only have ourselves to blame if we don’t have a very good season.

“If we continue to play the way we have done in the last three or four games then I believe we should win the league.”

Join our interactive coverage of Millwall v West Ham from 11.45am on Saturday on www.london24.com/west-ham