Grant praises Hammers – and Parker

West Ham boss Avram Grant has hailed his side’s 3-1 win over Liverpool at Upton Park on Sunday as one of the best of their season.

Goals from Scott Parker, Demba Ba and Carlton Cole powered West Ham to the crucial victory and, although they are still in the relegation zone on goal difference, the display could prove to be a big moment in their survival fight.

Grant was delighted with the result, and reserved special praise for Parker who he revealed had battled a shoulder complaint in the lead-up to the game.

“We’ve had good performances before but today we were more consistent,” Grant said. “It’s one of the best.”

“Scott was very close to not playing. He is a special guy – he showed great spirit for us. He damaged his shoulder in training but we didn’t want to lose him.”

“Scotty is the best example of team spirit – he couldn’t even walk after training but he wanted to play. He needed an injection but it was his choice to play.”

“It doesn’t matter how much you earn or what your girlfriend is like – he is old fashioned. It’s a game of passion and although I’ve known him less than a year, I like him very much.”

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish saw his side suffer their first loss since going down 2-1 at Blackpool on January 12, and the Scot said he had few complaints about Sunday’s defeat.

“The players have done fantastic up until here and I suppose there was always going to be some time when we lost a game,” Dalglish said.

“I am disappointed with the result, we started comfortably at the start but when they got the goal it gave them something to believe in.”

“They are fighting for survival so it doesn’t surprise us. They got lot of belief from their goal.”

“It’s not just losing, it’s the way we played as well. We deserved to lose.”