He told West Ham TV “I think we had to match the fact that when a team is at the bottom of the league and the games remaining are in single figures, the desire and anxiety of the opposition is so much greater than it is at the start of the season,” the manager told West Ham TV.
“When there are only three, four or five games left and a team is in the bottom three and three or four points adrift, the opposition get more and more desperate.
“Of course we had many positions to have scored but failed to do so. The best in the first half came before the penalty when Enner Valencia should have rolled the ball to an unmarked Kevin Nolan in the middle of the goal.
“Then, though, we had the master of penalty saves there for us again – that’s his third one on the trot and it was the major reason we got a point. It was not fortunate, but fantastic goalkeeping because he has proved it in the past.
“There was also no doubt about the foul on Adrian for the goal they have had disallowed, so we got the defensive side right.”
“He has given us an insight into the fact he can cope with this level on a one-off basis, so now he has to prove he can play regularly at this level.”