Hammers midfielder Jonathan Spector was full of praise for the support of the fans during Sunday’s FA Cup clash at Stoke City.

Stoke City are known to have the noisiest fans in the Premier League, but West Ham midfielder Jonathan Spector believes that the Hammers supporters made every bit as much noise at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.

Spector also feels that the fans will be vital to the team if they are to lift themselves for the remaining league games – starting with the trip to White Hart Lane on Saturday.

“You know they say that Stoke fans are known for their noise, but I think our fans have a lot of noise and passion and were just as loud as their fans on Sunday,” said the American, who was forced on as a substitute after just 35 minutes of the quarter-final clash.

“Even though they were fewer in numbers to the home crowd, we could still hear them, which is great.

“Their support is massive to us and we thank them for that – we all need to push forward together for the games we have left and the fans support is vital.

“They can make a big impact for us especially when games are difficult and we have to be patient to get a result. We need them and I am sure we can count on them to back us as they have all season.”

The games won’t be any more difficult than Saturday’s clash with London rivals Spurs, a game to be shown live on television.

But Spector believes that the team can forget about their cup disappointment and return to their recent good performances in the Premier League.

“It is a massive game for us,” said the 25-year-old United States international, who has now made 110 appearances in claret and blue since arriving from Manchester United back in the summer of 2006.

“Our form in the league recently has been good and we have a little momentum so we want to keep that going so we get the points we need to stay up.

“It is a London derby and it is a game that has the fans looking at it as a big game and everything that surrounds it, so it is a good game for us to go into and look to keep that momentum going hopefully.”

West Ham will prepare thoroughly for Saturday’s game, but Spector confirmed that the team were still trying to get over the defeat against Stoke City on Sunday.

“It was disappointing because we came here to get a result and a semi-final place was at stake, and after winning against them so well last week, it is not what we wanted,” said Spector.

“It was also disappointing as this was the second time this season we have been close to playing at Wembley in a major cup match. That has been taken away from us, but obviously it was not meant to be for us this year.”

It wasn’t, but now comes the hard work as West Ham look to survival and Spector, who has four goals to his name this campaign, will be hoping to get the chance to make another important contribution.