West Ham boss Glenn Roeder has leapt to the defence of Joe Cole as his side continue to struggle in the Premiership.
The young midfielder -- who celebrates his 21st birthday this week -- has suffered a dip in form since making a bright start to the season.
But after he and his midfield colleagues struggled to make an impact at Anfield on Saturday, Roeder urged people to give him more credit.
"He did have his moments where he did very well on the ball," he said. "It was a difficult game for the whole of our team, especially the midfield. Perhaps we could have got the ball to him more often and made better use of him when he runs with the ball.
"He's disappointed and felt he could have done better but you won't always see the best of Joe Cole when we are on the back foot."
Published Tuesday November 5, 2002
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