Defeat at Preston has come as another disappointment to West Ham, but manager Alan Pardew is not too unhappy with the first half of the season.

Hammers are in almost exactly the same place they were at this stage last season, on the tails of the leaders without showing a clear sign of closing that gap.

But Pardew feels this year's promotion race is a more unpredictable battle than last time, with little danger of seeing anyone pull away - even though he does feel his side have been short-changed on occasion.

"Our points total is good for the half-season mark," he said.

"When you look at the top six, and even below that, it's clear someone can come up and make an impact on the top six.

"You can look back and say there have been games where we shouldn't have lost.

"We do have more cause than most to feel slightly aggrieved about certain things and we are hoping that will even out because we need to win more games in the second half of the season."