No Defoe-Connolly rift, claims Pardew

ALAN PARDEW has dismissed talk of a rift between strikers Jermain Defoe and Ireland’s David Connolly during his first two days in charge of West Ham.

Pardew had to wait five weeks before taking over from caretaker Trevor Brooking at Upton Park this week under the terms of his release from Reading.

But he admitted his first job was to get to the bottom of allegations the pair do not pass to each other after a string of performances in which they have looked like strangers.