Patrice Evra has given Joe Hart the kind of thumbs up former Hammers stopper Phil Parkes cannot hand the keeper.

Evra – formerly of Manchester United, Juventus France and now the Irons has been talking up the Manchester City loanee as quickly as Partkesy talked him down saying: “I remember when I came and Joe wasn’t playing — Adrian was playing.

“I saw Joe and I say, ‘Joe, come on. You need to play. It is the World Cup coming soon’ — so he was really confident. I said, ‘Your time is coming.’

“He was confident, and you can see the game he played against Chelsea. He was Man of the Match — and well deserved. Even in training he was Man of the Match, so I am really happy for him.

“Big players, you need to handle the pressure. You are going to get criticised. I’ve been criticised a lot, even if I have won more than 21 trophies. So it is something normal.”

Parkes however had told ClaretandHugh that he reckoned it was a mistake for the Irons to sign the stopper and that the Chelsea match was only the first in which he had impressed.

He said: “You need more than he has given and that people were saying how well he had done after the Chelsea match shows how rough his season has been. He’s not a keeper I like.”