West Ham midfielder Scott Parker is adamant that the club will be just fine without him after he was ruled out of the next two matches through suspension

West Ham midfielder Scott Parker is adamant that the club will be just fine without him after he was ruled out of the next two matches through suspension.

The former Charlton man has been outstanding for the Hammers all campaign in the centre of the park.

But, after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season on Saturday, the 29-year-old will have to sit out the visit of Sunderland this weekend, while he will also miss the trip to Anfield a week on Monday.

Parker pleaded with referee Howard Webb not to book him after a late challenge on Tim Cahill in the 2-2 with the Toffees, but the official ignored his pleas.

Parker, however has great faith in his team-mates and has challenged them to pull further away from the relegation places in his absence.

"It is going to be tough for the rest of the season, but we are up for it. I hope we can push on," he said.

"We all deserve it - players and fans - and hopefully we can go on and do that.

"When I come back I'm sure we will be in a good position and kick on."

What was all the more frustrating for Parker was that if he had got through the game at Goodison and the visit of Sunderland, his yellow card slate would have wiped clean.

"I'm very disappointed to miss two games having been sitting on a 10th yellow card for six or seven games," he said.

"I only had the next game to get through and it was cleared. I will take the Everton result over that though any day.

"It (the result) is a good starting point."

Everton took the lead through a Diniyar Bilyaletdinov first half header, before Manuel Da Costa equalised for West Ham in the 60th minute.

A Yakubu header five minutes before time looked to have won the game for the Toffees before a wonderful header from Ilan two minutes later snatched a point for the visitors.

"You could see at the end how delighted we were," Parker said.

"Obviously we've had a bad run and a lot has been said in the press but one thing we have got here is togetherness and a good spirit.

"We needed to show a bit of character and that's what we have done.

"It will be tough for the rest of the season, but it's something to build on. Hopefully we can pick up from this.

"I think we deserved a point. We were much more organised today. I thought we were the better side in the second half."

Parker will return for the Upton Park six-pointer with fellow strugglers Wigan on April 24.