WHEN Scott Parker is playing well for West Ham then generally the Hammers are playing well also, writes DAVE EVANS. That was certainly the case at Upton Park on Sunday as the midfield-general showed all his class with a man of the match display that had t

WHEN Scott Parker is playing well for West Ham then generally the Hammers are playing well also, writes DAVE EVANS.

That was certainly the case at Upton Park on Sunday as the midfield-general showed all his class with a man of the match display that had the Spurs central midfield on the backfoot for long periods.

Parker was certainly a match for Tottenham's �12million signing Wilson Palacios and one of his tough, but fair tackles on Spurs dangerman Jermain Defoe was a joy to see.

Parker may be back in form, but he was unhappy that his team could not pick up any points from the game.

"Obviously it wasn't the best of results, but I think on the balance of play, we gave a good account of ourselves," said the 28-year-old midfielder.

"We feel a little bit unlucky that we didn't get at least a draw.

"Carlton Cole has scored a great goal and then made a massive error, but that's football.

"From then on they seemed to have the momentum and obviously they hit us again so it's disappointing."

With Parker at the heart of midfield and the likes of Mark Noble, Jack Collison, Luis Jimenez, Valon Behrami, Junior Stanislas and Kieron Dyer vying for places alongside him, the middle of the park seems to be a strong part of the West Ham squad.

Parker is fully aware though of where they are lacking though, but he is also realistic about West Ham's chances of strengthening.

"Of course we would love to bring some more players in," he insisted. "You could see it today that our squad is very short, but we all understand the situation we're in. It's just what we have to work with.

"We'll have to dig in and hopefully try and get some results

"I think if we can perform like we did today, there's not going to be many teams that are going to be able to live with us."

Fabio Capello was there to see Sunday's match, and after that display, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see three-cap Parker back in the England reckoning.