Hammers supporting Roeder, says Winterburn

West Ham’s veteran left-back Nigel Winterburn insists the Upton Park players are backing under-fire manager Glenn Roeder.

Speculation over Roeder’s future has been mounting, with the 4-3 home defeat by Leeds adding to the pressure.

“You only have to look at the game against Leeds to see that the players are behind Glenn,” Winterburn told BBC Sport Online.

“He’s a very honest man, who is excellent tactically and works hard on the training pitch.

“I just hope he gets enough time to turn it around – which I have no doubt he can.”

Winterburn was cheered by the second-half comeback against Leeds which saw the Hammers recover from 4-1 down to 4-3.

The former Arsenal and England full-back believes it could be the turning point in West Ham’s season.

“We were excellent. If we can play like that more consistently we will soon climb the league,” he said.

“I think the crowd appreciated the hard work we put in in the second half. We rightly got booed off at half-time, but they were behind us at the end.”