West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce believes his side will have a great chance of winning promotion at Wembley if they can replicate the performances which outclassed Cardiff City in their one-sided play-off semi-final.
The Hammers produced two of their best displays of the season to wrap up a comprehensive 5-0 aggregate win over Malky Mackay’s side.
West Ham’s reward will be a match against Blackpool a week on Saturday, for the chance to seal an immediate return to the Premier League.
Allardyce said: “I just want the players to play like they’ve played either at Cardiff or here [Upton Park] and hopefully that will be enough. If they play like that we’ll have a great chance of getting there [Premier League].
“It has been two outstanding performances. I think the platform was set for the players to deliver today.
“There was a little bit of anxiety of course because we were two goals in front and were big favourites so we were a little bit nervous about how we were going to start and what Cardiff were going to do. They had nothing to lose so they were obviously going to go for it and see if they could get the first goal.
“Our start was again outstanding with the little diamond [formation] we played which was terrific. From there on it was just a case of the lads keeping control of what they already had and we went on to win the game in fantastic style.
“It was a great performance and the first goal was very important off the corner and then two scintillating goals from Ricardo Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard.
“Arguably it could have been more but 3-0 at home and 2-0 away, two clean sheets, you can’t ask for any more than what the players have delivered under enormous pressure in the play-off situation, because the whole season rides on two games on whether it ends up being a brilliant one or it ends up in disappointment.”
The foundation to their success was set up in Cardiff on Thursday night after a brace from Jack Collison fired the Irons to a deserved 2-0 win.
United did not waste time putting the tie beyond the feeble visitors as captain Kevin Nolan headed in the opener at Upton Park on Monday.
Vaz Te hit a superb strike to double their lead and substitute Maynard’s powerful effort completed a glorious win for the Hammers in front of a sold-out crowd.
The former Blackburn Rovers manager said: “It’s given us great confidence to go on the even bigger stage at Wembley and try to give the sort of performance we gave today. That’s what we're hoping for and that's what we need to do. Whoever we play is going to be very difficult and we can now look forward to it. We have to make sure when we get there we try and deliver what we’ve all wanted right from day one.
“We’ve got to handle the occasion and the opposition and hopefully that will deliver the best performance from the players. They’ve certainly managed to do it under the extreme pressure we work under in the play-off situation.
“There have been no nerves from the players or anxieties. There have been very few mistakes made and there has been a lot of quality about our football and desire and determination to make sure that we get where we want to go and try and win it. We’ve shown under those extreme circumstances by delivering two outstanding performances and hopefully that will remain in the players’ minds as a positive mental attitude going into the Wembley final.”
The only negative from the two games was the injury to Collison, with the midfielder going off in the home leg with a dislocated shoulder. It is not yet clear whether he will be available to play in the Wembley final.
Allardyce said: “It looks like a dislocated shoulder unfortunately. Not knowing the extent of it yet we won’t rule him out straight away until we know the extent of the dislocation which will be done by an MRI scan as quickly as possible.”
With almost 12 days to prepare for the final, Allardyce was asked whether the Hammers had too much time on their hands between games.
But the Irons boss said: “What can the extra few days give players who have worked extremely hard over 48 games?
“The mini break they can have between now and us starting our build up preparations will be vital for them to have the physical and mental strength to go into such a big game.
“Hopefully that will give them the opportunity to deliver their capabilities as footballers because they will have had enough time to recover and get fully recovered physically and mentally for such a big match, so I’m glad there is that extra few days.”
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