Parker beats pain to give Hammers shot in the arm

SCOTT PARKER defied the medics and stunned his manager Avram Grant as he played through the pain barrier to help West Ham produce their best league performance of the season and give them a fighting chance of beating the drop.

Goals from Parker, Demba Ba and Carlton Cole helped the east London club move off the bottom and you would not rule against them producing another miraculous escape by the end of the season.

But it was Parker who produced another outstanding display – even though his manager had planned the team without him after he picked up a serious shoulder injury at the end of their last training session, just 24 hours before the game got under way.