West Ham winger Matthew Etherington hopes that a hard-fought cup win will be the tonic his side need to kick-start their promotion campaign.

On a muddy pitch against hard-working opponents, the former Spurs man reckons that the team's all-important character showed through -- despite questions that have been asked about their "bottle" this season.

And the 2-1 success over Wigan can now inspire the team to get on a run that will push them into the promotion frame.

"It was the worst pitch I've ever played on; we had to battle it out and we did that really well," Etherington said.

"I thought we deserved our win and we got it with two great finishes from Hayden and Conners. That killed the game off, which we had to do."

The cup is more than just a distraction for Etherington this season, despite his desire to bounce straight back into the top flight.

"Promotion is our main target and we are focussed on that, but the cup is still very important to us," he said.

"It gives us a chance to test ourselves against the best sides in the country and it would be good to have a big game at Upton Park."

Published Monday January 5, 2004

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