Exclusive chat with irons keeper robert green

By Simon Hayes on May 1, 2007 12:00 AM |

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"WE CAN stay up, and we'll be trying our hardest to make it happen."
That was the message from West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green as the Hammers head towards the final games of the season knowing their hopes of Premiership survival are very much alive.
Green, whose recent performances have been at the forefront of the Irons' revival, spoke exclusively to The Wharf about their rollercoaster campaign.

He said: "It's been a disappointing season and about four or five weeks ago we gave ourselves even less of a chance by losing to Spurs.
"But with our recent run we've now got a chance and we've got to take it and turn around what's been a bad season.
"The level of expectation was high at the start of the season, maybe even too high, but we certainly didn't expect to be where we are. But it's not over yet."
Saturday's (April 28) 3-0 win at fellow strugglers Wigan gave the Hammers a boost but Green revealed the players are taking it one game at a time as they strive to stay up, with the next huge test against Bolton at the Boleyn this Saturday (May 5).
He said: "We just plan for each game as it comes, hoping to give ourselves another chance the following Saturday.
"Hopefully this week we'll give ourselves another chance of staying up and if we do that we'll see what we need on the last day of the season. I think we might need to beat Man United. Going to Old Trafford and winning would be fantastic."
Green has been pleased with his own recent form, especially his outstanding display in the 1-0 win at Arsenal on Easter Saturday.
"Yeah, it wasn't bad," he said. "It was great to get a win, to be honest. To score when we did, just to give ourselves a chance of winning, was fantastic. To be the first team to win there was special."
And even injury cannot keep the former Norwich stopper out of the game, as he showed when he dislocated a finger in the win over Everton on April 21, a game when Alan Curbishley opted not to have a keeper on the substitutes' bench.
Green said: "It popped out but it went straight back in again. It's an occupational hazard, but it's fine. There were a few hearts in mouths at the time, especially Curbs, but I wouldn't have gone off even if there had been a keeper on the bench. It takes a bit more than that to get me to come off."
It's been a great week for the Hammers, with the FA Premier League's decision not to dock them points over the Tevez/Mascherano affair giving them genuine hope of avoiding the drop. And if they do pull off their improbable escape they will certainly need Robert Green at his best between the posts.
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