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From the Offish
George McCartney says West Ham United are remaining upbeat ahead of their final half-dozen npower Championship fixtures.
The left-back, who has been one of West Ham United's most consistent players this season, pointed to Reading's tough run-in as a reason to be optimistic despite Saturday's 4-2 home defeat by the Royals.
The No3 is targeting a return of 16 points from the Hammers' final six matches to overhaul Brian McDermott's side and secure automatic promotion.
George, will we have to settle for the Play-Offs now after Saturday's defeat by Reading?
GM - No I don't think so. If you look at Reading's run-in, they've still got lots of tough games. I think we have six games left and we need to win five and draw one. I can't see Reading going unbeaten for the rest of the season - they are away to Southampton, Brighton and Birmingham and have Leeds at home, which are tough games.
Ours aren't the easiest either but we all know what we're capable of, so it's just a matter of going on to the pitch in those six games and producing the performances. We need five wins and a draw, if not six wins, to secure automatic promotion and that's what we'll be aiming for.
I think we've probably got one of the best squads in the league but, for one reason or another, we haven't produced the performances at home over the last few weeks. It's got to the stage of the season and we've had five or six draws in a row and, against lesser teams, that is not good enough.
It looked like there was only going to be one winner for much of the first half on Saturday, didn't there?
GM - I think for 43 minutes there was only one team out there. We passed them off the park, created chances, got the lead and had chances to make it two, maybe three. But in the last couple of minutes of the half we have let them score from a set-piece and as for the second goal, I don't even know what was going on there. They went in 2-1 up and I think our lads were a bit shellshocked really. To go in level at half time would have been an injustice, but to go in 2-1 down was incredible.
We came out second half and played like we had in the first half. We passed the ball well and had a couple of corners and a free-kick, then they went up the other end and got a penalty to make it 3-1 and the game was more or less over. We got ourselves back in it at 3-2 and I thought everyone was looking for a big finish, then we gave away another stupid goal.
What went wrong? Why did we commit so many uncharacteristic defensive mistakes?
GM - I don't' know what happened. For the majority of the season we have defended really well and not conceded that many goals. But I think throughout the season, our downfall has been conceding off set-pieces and obviously their first goal has come from a corner and the second has come from a long kick from the keeper, which we haven't dealt with either. We were on top so much in the first half and were 1-0 up and were all pushing to get the second goal and it's probably cost us.
I actually said to Matt Taylor in about the 39th or 40th minute 'We need a second goal, because I think that would see Reading off'. Reading weren't playing with any confidence, they didn't really have much of the ball and never really threatened us. Every time we had the ball we were getting forward, creating chances, getting crosses into the box, but it just evaded us really.
We lost the first goal and then to be 2-1 down at half-time, it took a big effort at the start of the second half. We started well and the penalty more or less knocked our confidence and as much as we tried and the fans were behind us, we couldn't get back into it. Once it went to 4-2, the game was over, really, and we were never going to get back from that.
Is one point from 12 against Southampton and Reading this season going to prove crucial in the end?
GM - It's looking that way at the minute but we'll keep fighting right the way until the end of the season. We've got six games to go and there are going to be more twists and turns. We can only do our part and if we do that, we'll see where it takes us at the end of the season.
Is team spirit still good?
GM - Yes, of course it is. It didn't help us losing on Saturday, but all the lads had a chat after the game and we're more than up for the challenge ahead of getting the wins we need to get automatic promotion. That's still what we're pushing for.
George McCartney says West Ham United are remaining upbeat ahead of their final half-dozen npower Championship fixtures.
The left-back, who has been one of West Ham United's most consistent players this season, pointed to Reading's tough run-in as a reason to be optimistic despite Saturday's 4-2 home defeat by the Royals.
The No3 is targeting a return of 16 points from the Hammers' final six matches to overhaul Brian McDermott's side and secure automatic promotion.
George, will we have to settle for the Play-Offs now after Saturday's defeat by Reading?
GM - No I don't think so. If you look at Reading's run-in, they've still got lots of tough games. I think we have six games left and we need to win five and draw one. I can't see Reading going unbeaten for the rest of the season - they are away to Southampton, Brighton and Birmingham and have Leeds at home, which are tough games.
Ours aren't the easiest either but we all know what we're capable of, so it's just a matter of going on to the pitch in those six games and producing the performances. We need five wins and a draw, if not six wins, to secure automatic promotion and that's what we'll be aiming for.
I think we've probably got one of the best squads in the league but, for one reason or another, we haven't produced the performances at home over the last few weeks. It's got to the stage of the season and we've had five or six draws in a row and, against lesser teams, that is not good enough.
It looked like there was only going to be one winner for much of the first half on Saturday, didn't there?
GM - I think for 43 minutes there was only one team out there. We passed them off the park, created chances, got the lead and had chances to make it two, maybe three. But in the last couple of minutes of the half we have let them score from a set-piece and as for the second goal, I don't even know what was going on there. They went in 2-1 up and I think our lads were a bit shellshocked really. To go in level at half time would have been an injustice, but to go in 2-1 down was incredible.
We came out second half and played like we had in the first half. We passed the ball well and had a couple of corners and a free-kick, then they went up the other end and got a penalty to make it 3-1 and the game was more or less over. We got ourselves back in it at 3-2 and I thought everyone was looking for a big finish, then we gave away another stupid goal.
What went wrong? Why did we commit so many uncharacteristic defensive mistakes?
GM - I don't' know what happened. For the majority of the season we have defended really well and not conceded that many goals. But I think throughout the season, our downfall has been conceding off set-pieces and obviously their first goal has come from a corner and the second has come from a long kick from the keeper, which we haven't dealt with either. We were on top so much in the first half and were 1-0 up and were all pushing to get the second goal and it's probably cost us.
I actually said to Matt Taylor in about the 39th or 40th minute 'We need a second goal, because I think that would see Reading off'. Reading weren't playing with any confidence, they didn't really have much of the ball and never really threatened us. Every time we had the ball we were getting forward, creating chances, getting crosses into the box, but it just evaded us really.
We lost the first goal and then to be 2-1 down at half-time, it took a big effort at the start of the second half. We started well and the penalty more or less knocked our confidence and as much as we tried and the fans were behind us, we couldn't get back into it. Once it went to 4-2, the game was over, really, and we were never going to get back from that.
Is one point from 12 against Southampton and Reading this season going to prove crucial in the end?
GM - It's looking that way at the minute but we'll keep fighting right the way until the end of the season. We've got six games to go and there are going to be more twists and turns. We can only do our part and if we do that, we'll see where it takes us at the end of the season.
Is team spirit still good?
GM - Yes, of course it is. It didn't help us losing on Saturday, but all the lads had a chat after the game and we're more than up for the challenge ahead of getting the wins we need to get automatic promotion. That's still what we're pushing for.
