West Ham manager Glenn Roeder admitted that he had to go against his natural instincts and gamble on a substitute to win him last night's game with Blackburn.
Jermain Defoe came off the bench in the closing stages to score the crucial goal in the 2-1 success, but his boss said it was a late decision to swap him for midfielder Lee Bowyer.
"People around me wanted the change earlier -- you could hear them in the crowd," he said. "But I'm not a believer in sticking three men up through the middle.
"They can easily get in each other's way and I prefer to keep a shape and structure to the team.
"But with ten minutes to play I had to throw caution to the wind, and it came off."
Published Thursday, January 30, 2003
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