I came here to get them into the Premiership

Last updated : 03 March 2004 By Tony Scholes

West Ham were favourites to win the game and they played well but manager Alan Pardew was quick to praise the performance of our Clarets when he spoke after the game.

"Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition and Burnley did work incredibly hard to make life tough for us," he said after seeing his side pick up yet another draw.

"Having said that, we had enough chances early on to have taken the lead and I felt that if we had got in front then we would have gone on and won it.

"It was a tough game, Burnley is a difficult place to come and get a win, but we are a little disappointed only to have drawn it.

"We can't rely on the results of other teams. We have 13 games left and must look to win 10 of them, we wouldn't want to lose any matches at all and hope it will be good enough.

"It shows how far we have come that we are frustrated with only drawing at Burnley. I couldn't fault the team for effort but we were let down by a lack of quality, which was unusual."

Stan received an ovation from the Turf Moor crowd before kick off, it was his 300th game in charge, and he was still smiling at the end has his patched up side played well and earned their point.

"I thought the whole team had a really good go and under the circumstances I am more than happy with the point. It’s a point nearer to where we want to be," said Stan.

"I would have taken it before the game with us being so thin on the ground, so I'll be honest and say I'm delighted. It's quite a tough schedule we are on at the moment, with four games in just a few days. I've had two loan players recalled, I've got Paul Weller suspended and some injuries, so we were down to the bare bones and it's difficult, so I'm pleased for the lads.

"Our goal came from a nice build up and Robbie Blake played a pass through. Graham Branch finished it well.

"I thought it was a penalty because Mark McGregor had Bobby Zamora by the arm after he turned him. The referee got that one right, but David May's was also a blatant penalty. I've watched it on the video - mind you it was only one hand on his back, not two!"

Stan went on to explain that Neil Wood had suffered a reaction on his knee whilst Chappy was close to making it but said of the three youngsters on the bench,

"I asked them after if they thought they could play at this level and they said yes so it is there for them. If they get stronger this is a good place to play at a decent level."

And finally, "We didn't lose on my 300th game and I hope we don't lose for the next 12 - that will do me nicely!"

What of that 300th game

"The reception I got was very nice and it does me good. I feel like I'm driving myself mad sometimes because I didn't come here to keep Burnley in the First Division. I came here to get them into the Premiership, but circumstances have gone in such a way that it's a big challenge. But I'm still enjoying it and I feel okay.

"I need to get through this season and then I will sit down with the chairman and find out what the ambitions are. If they match mine, that's fine. If they don't, that's also fine because I know they will do as much as they possibly can.

"But I've no intention of hitting a few golf balls at the moment and I hope we can push on."

Alan Pardew was a player at Palace when Stan was coaching there in the late 1980s and he had a word to about the Burnley manager.

"It's about time Stan retired," he said. He drives the press mad, he drives his chairman mad and drives his players mad. But he's a great character and I love him dearly and wish him well for the rest of the season."