West Ham United midfielder Mark Noble says the players laughed off Ilan's 'critical' interview of Gianfranco Zola last week.

The striker caused a few ripples recently when he was reported back home in Brazil as making critical comments about manager Zola.

"You could tell by the way he was when he came in the day after the story had appeared that he was really worried," Noble told the London Evening Standard.

"He looked totally shell-shocked and denied making some of the comments. Normally he's so quiet.

"I think our captain, Matty Upson, had a word with him. Ilan was concerned about what the rest of us players would think of him.