Hislop banking on Defoe spirit

13 April 2012

Reading 0 West Ham 0 (Reading Win 6-5 On Penalties)

West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop is convinced Jermain Defoe will bounce back from his penalty shoot-out mistake which ultimately cost his team a place in the Worthington Cup.

Defoe missed the fifth kick against Reading last night which would have sent the Hammers through to the next round. Hislop had saved a crucial penalty from James Harper and it was down to Defoe to steal the headlines once again.

But the England Under-21 striker saw his effort come back off the post and Reading went on to become yet another lower league side to put the Hammers out of a cup competition.

Defoe made his first start of the season in place of the injured Paolo Di Canio but, after an impressive start to his career, was left despondent at the finish.

However, Hislop believes that missing the spot kick could be a blessing in disguise for the young forward.

Hislop said: "Jermain is a very talented player with a great future ahead of him. It is almost as if he has to miss kicks like those to get some character about him.

"I believe the miss will benefit his career in the long run and ultimately West Ham will benefit from that. He is very disappointed at the moment but he will put this behind him and will bounce back.

"For a young person, he has got a lot of experience on his shoulders. We all know these things happen to strikers and you have to be able to take them. But he is a confident person and his talent will shine through in the end."

Manager Glenn Roeder is also confident Defoe will come back a much stronger player and will not affect his performances over the coming months of the season.

Roeder said: "He is very down at the moment because he is only 18 and has taken a lot of responsibility. But he will have to live with that and I'm sure he will come through it and become a better person for it.

"Jermain takes a lot of pride in taking penalties and unfortunately it just shaved the post and went wide. At this stage, words mean very little to him.

"I will see how he is today and if I feel he needs picking up, I will obviously do it. He will bounce back from this - he has got to. I thought in the opening 20 minutes he looked very sharp and could have put us in front. But we are finding it very difficult to score in open play at the moment."

Roeder hopes to put things right against Middlesbrough on Saturday when he could welcome back Di Canio, Nigel Winterburn and Joe Cole, all of whom missed the game with slight knocks. Roeder added: "It is very important-we bounce back against Middlesbrough on Saturday and I get a reaction from the players when they report for training today.

"I don't want any moping faces around the place. We have got to get on with life because after what happened in America yesterday nobody should be walking around with our chins our on chests because it puts life into perspective."

Czech defender Tomas Repka watched the game from the stands last night and hopes to complete his £5million from Fiorentina today.

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Hislop banking on Defoe spirit

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