West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has defended Nigel Pearson after the Leicester City manager turned on a local reporter last night.

Allardyce defended Pearson and denied claims that he is a bully.

"When you are down there dealing with the pressures that come upon in terms of staying in the Premier League, I think it is a huge pressure for everybody to continue to work under that situation and come through it," said Allardyce.

"What surprises me is this condescending attitude about what should happen to Nigel [Pearson], that I have been hearing about this morning.

"People have been talking about bullying and stuff like that - what a load of rubbish. It's an outburst. Simple as that, plain and simple.

"But I listen to the world of the media sometimes and it really does baffle me what they come out with in terms what he should or shouldn't be doing."