Returning Hitzlsperger inspires Hammers

THOMAS HITZLSPERGER hailed a fantastic night for himself and West Ham after helping fire them to a 5-1 FA Cup win over Burnley on his debut.

The Germany midfielder signed for the Hammers in the summer, but injury has kept him sidelined until last night, when he started the fifth round tie at Upton Park.

Hitzlsperger grabbed the first goal with a trademark left-footed thunderbolt from the edge of the area and the Premier League strugglers went on to enjoy a confidence boosting win.

Carlton Cole scored twice in three second-half minutes and the second of the England forward’s strikes — a beautifully-taken half volley — was followed by Winston Reid’s powerful header on the hour to make it 4-0.

An error by Robert Green gave Jay Rodriguez a consolation for the Clarets, but Grant’s team scored again through Freddie Sears in injury time to seal the emphatic win.

“I didn’t know what to expect after such a long time out,” Hitzlsperger said. “The manager was speaking to me before the game about whether I would play 30 minutes or start, but I’m delighted to start with a goal and an important win for us.

“It’s going to bring some confidence back to the camp and that’s important with the games ahead of us.”

The Hammers will face Stoke in the next round, but Hitzlsperger also hopes the win can spur them on in the league, as they remain 19th in the table.

“This is what we needed, I think, especially by such a great margin,” he said.

“5-1 is a good win for us. With the games we have coming up, we’re playing some really good teams so we need confidence and structure in our game.

“We can’t make any mistakes because we need to climb up the table.”

Manager Avram Grant was happy to see his team show some good form.

“We are the Premier League team so normally we need to win these games, but they are difficult because they are playing well and tactically they are very good,” he said.

“But we played well in the second half and it was difficult for them.”

Grant admitted he would happily take three points over a cup win, but he is happy to continue a confidence-boosting run.

“Our target and first priority is the league, but it’s always good to come into the quarter-finals of the cup,” he said.

Burnley boss Eddie Howe felt his side gave a good account of themselves early on, but once they were 2-0 down, they let the game get away from them.

“I though it could have been very different,” he said. “In the first half we had our moments, we had our chances and could have scored more than one.

“The goal straight after half-time hurt us and then we’re chasing the game and they caught us on the break a couple of times.”

WEST HAM: Green, Reid, Tomkins, Jacobsen, Bridge, Sears, Parker, Noble, Hitzlsperger (Barrera 67), Cole (Spector 73), Ba (Piquionne 82).

BURNLEY: Grant, Mears, Duff, Carlisle, Fox, Elliott, Cork, Eagles (Thompson 84), Marney (Alexander 72), Wallace (Iwelumo 73), Rodriguez.

Ref: Martin Atkinson.