Sam Allardyce felt West Ham produced a mixed performance in beating Derby 3-1 as Nigel Clough rued the injuries to his squad.
Clough praises Priskin but rues injuries in Derby's squad
Sam Allardyce felt West Ham United produced a mixed performance in beating Derby County 3-1 at home as Nigel Clough rued the injuries which have disrupted his plans.
On-loan striker Tamas Priskin marked his Derby debut by putting the visitors ahead at Upton Park before Carlton Cole equalised before half-time.
Second-half goals from Kevin Nolan and Mark Noble secured the win for the Hammers to lift Allardyce's side to within two points of Championship leaders Southampton.
However, Allardyce was unhappy with his team's first-half display and accepted the pressure to capitalise on Southampton's slip-up at Bristol City contributed to a first half wobble.
Great comeback
"We weren't very good today, there's no doubt about that," he said.
"I think the players saw the Southampton result and that plus the 4-4-2 formation I picked affected them.
"We changed to a 4-3-3 after the break and everyone saw the best of our players after that.
"It was very important that we scored just before half-time, I think it knocked Derby back. But the chances we created and the goals we scored show how much better we got.
"We played better against Bristol City than we did today, and we drew 0-0. We created 20-odd attempts at goal that night, but because we drew everyone was unhappy.
"Performances and results are two different things related by people who watch football.
"The performance was only good enough for 45 minutes. That needs to be better at home, especially, and it's something we want for 90 minutes from the players, starting Tuesday at Middlesbrough. It was a great comeback from one nil down, and in the end we ran out comfortable winners."
Priskin's opener came only two days after his move from Ipswich and was the result of a fine start to the game but Rams boss Clough claimed Cole's equalising header knocked the stuffing out of his side.
"We could have gone in at half-time one nil up, and conceding right on the break affected us in the same way that it gave West Ham a lift after half-time," he said.
"It was all going to plan for us. I felt a little bit hard done by for the free-kick for the first goal. I haven't seen the penalty, I've heard it was outside the box but the referee gave it very enthusiastically. It's these little things that went against us.
"The injuries haven't helped us on this current run. I didn't see any West Ham players coming back after seven months.
"They're all very confident and experienced. We have to be at our best to win at places like this.
"It's always good for a striker to get a goal on his debut. It was a lovely goal; a great ball from Jamie Ward and Tamas finished well."
