Grant impressed by Parker spirit

West Ham boss Avram Grant hailed Scott Parker after the midfielder defied injury to help the Hammers beat Liverpool 3-1 at Upton Park.

Parker injured his shoulder in training on Saturday and Grant did not expect him to play against the Reds.

“Scott is a special guy,” said Grant. “The spirit he showed was great.

“Three hours before the game, we thought there was no way he would play. It was a bad, bad injury. He couldn’t walk or move his arms.”

He added: “The medical department were sure he couldn’t play, but they did a good job and gave him 24 hours of treatment.

“He needed more than an injection, but the medical department did brilliantly with him.”

Goals from Parker and Demba Ba put West Ham ahead against Liverpool and, despite Glen Johnson pulling one back for the visitors, Carlton Cole struck a third to confirm victory for the Hammers.

“He’s [Parker] the type of player I like – he always gives 100%, is always positive,” said Grant.

“I like some of the things from old-fashioned play. That’s what they did in the olden days. They gave everything.”

The victory moved West Ham off the foot of the Premier League table but they are still third from bottom and in the drop zone.

However, the win will have been welcomed by 74-year-old West Ham co-owner David Gold, who is unwell and was in hospital on Sunday being treated for cholangitis and septicaemia.

“I want to wish him all the best and to get well,” said Grant. “He’s a good guy, and I’m sure he enjoyed the game.

“The game was good, we played well, scored three and could have scored more. I’m happy.

“This result shows the players what quality we have. We’re not a team that should be down the bottom. Circumstances cause us to be there, but look at our football.”

He added: “We are coming now to the last 10 games of the season.

“I don’t remember a situation where the team who are bottom could still end up 10th. It’s so tight.”

The defeat ended Liverpool’s unbeaten run of eight games and boss Kenny Dalglish also suffered the blow of Martin Kelly and Raul Meireles having to go off injured during the game.

“We never passed it as well as we can or took the opportunities that came our way,” said Dalglish.

“The last 20 or 25 minutes, we started to play a wee bit like we can. We got the goal near the end and we thought we might steal a point.

“There were a couple of shouts for a penalty, things that are outside our control that you can’t manage, but we’ll try to correct the mistakes we made.”

Kelly pulled up with a hamstring injury and Meireles took a knock to the knee but Dalglish refused to rule either player out of the club’s next league game against Manchester United at Anfield on 6 March.

“Martin’s more serious,” said Dalglish. “Raul we don’t know. But I wouldn’t take it as a given that Martin’s out yet.”