Hammers manager Sam Allardyce was furious as his team let a point slip away in the closing stages of their clash with Ipswich Town on Tuesday night

It was not so much the fact that former Hammer Lee Bowyer struck the Ipswich Town winner on Tuesday night, it was more the fact that for the fifth time this season the Hammers have conceded a goal at Upton Park in the final moments of a match.

Tuesday’s performance was a dismal one, but West Ham should have grabbed a point for their efforts, but once again they let things slip at the death to gift the Suffolk side maximum points.

That means they have conceded late against Cardiff City, Leeds United, Portsmouth, Ipswich and even Aldershot Town in the Carling Cup and it is something that infuriated manager Sam Allardyce.

“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” he said after the 1-0 defeat. “I thought we had learnt our lesson, but clearly we haven’t.

“I keep telling the players about respecting the point and how important it is because coming off with a 0-0 would have been a good point for us against Ipswich.

“But that glitch in our play has popped up again. We can ill afford to throw away points as early as this and more importantly at Upton Park.

“That’s four points that have been thrown away in the final minutes and we really have to eradicate that.

“We will have to make those points up going away from home and, while we have been magnificent in terms of our results away, we won’t keep going away and winning.”

Allardyce prides himself on getting his team solid at the back and not letting in silly goals and so yet another late surrender was something that left the manager clearly angry and frustrated.

“I know this is a new team coming together, but it doesn’t stop you being organised and professional in the final minutes,” he continued relentlessly.

“Everybody in our dressing room, apart from one or two of the younger elements, are vastly experienced players and have seen it all before at a higher level than this.

“That is what disappoints me, taking responsibility in the dying embers of the game to make sure you do the right thing. Let’s face it, it isn’t a great goal from Ipswich. It isn’t a goal that I can say there is nothing we could have done.”

Allardyce might be trying to deflect away from what was a pretty poor performance from start to finish, but in truth, unless the Hammers can eradicate these late, late slips, the pressure will get more and more intense on their away trips.

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