West Ham United have dismissed claims by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard of dirty tricks during Sunday's game.
The Liverpool captain scored two penalties to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Hammers, and Gerrard said yesterday that his side got "more than we expected" during the trip to East London.
"We knew what to expect and we got a bit more than we expected - a hot dressing room, a dry pitch and the bus had to park a mile away," Gerrard said.
A statement on West Ham's official website seemed to further dispel Gerrard's claims, adding: "Following the game, Reds captain Steven Gerrard light-heartedly claimed he and his team-mates had to walk 'a mile' to reach the stadium. However, the unusual parking location is estimated to have added around 20 metres to the usual walk from the coach door to the Players' entrance.
"Once the Liverpool players and staff had safely disembarked, the coach was moved into the Players' Car Park, where it remained before collecting them after the game.
"Another suggestion was that the visitors were housed in a 'hot' dressing room, which caused some bemusement as West Ham staff received no complaint about the temperature from the visitors. Of course, West Ham staff would have been happy to turn up the air conditioning at our opponents' request.
"Finally, the consistent overnight rain that fell on the Boleyn Ground on Saturday meant that the 'dry' playing surface might have been a little wetter than was suggested."
