It is one of the oldest consolations in the sport, but there was little else for West Ham manager Alan Pardew to fall back on after a penalty shoot-out defeat to Sheffield United.

Now their FA Cup run is over, and the chance of a trip to Arsenal in the fifth round has evaporated, the Hammers chief was forced to accept the inevitable.

So there were few surprises when he admitted it was time for his team to concentrate on resurrecting their league form.

"Being out of the competition is a blow, but we've got a league game now and we want to go on and get a win under our belts because our focus now is the league programme," said Pardew after the Hammers lost 3-1 on penalties against Sheffield United yesterday.

"We are looking forward to it and we have to make sure we put in a run to secure a play-off place."