Allardyce frustrated as Hammers lacking edge

West Ham 0 Aston Villa 0

The club have been desperate to solve their striking problem, re-signing Carlton Cole on a short-term deal and bringing in former Fulham forward Mladen Petric on a one-year contract.

Allardyce said: “At the moment none of those players are scoring when they get an opportunity. It’s not just the front end. It’s all of the players not contributing in goal-scoring terms as much as they did last season. If we get that right we’ll start getting three points instead of one.”

Despite West Ham dominating territory and possession, Villa boss Paul Lambert was encouraged by the way his side carved out the game’s best opportunities. Christian Benteke hit the bar with a header and saw another effort well saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen, while Andreas Weimann also saw an early effort blocked.

Lambert said: “We had the three best chances of the game, on another day they would go in.”

WEST HAM (4-6-0): Jaaskelainen 7; Demel 6, Tomkins 6, Reid 7, Rat 6 (Diame 89mins 6); Downing 6, Collison 6 (C Cole 62mins 6), Noble 8, Morrison 7, Nolan 6, Jarvis 6 (J Cole 62mins 6)

ASTON VILLA (3-5-2): Guzan 7; Lowton 7, Vlaar 6, Baker 6, Clark 7, Bacuna 6; Sylla 6, Westwood 7, El Ahmadi 6; Weimann 6 (Kozak 56mins 6), Benteke 7.

Referee: Howard Webb.