Next season cannot come soon enough for these two teams. West Ham United will hope to start the 2008-09 campaign with something that more closely resembles their best side than the ragged, injury-plagued XIs they have been forced to field for most of this season. Derby County, meanwhile, have struggled after being promoted beyond the means of most of their players.

But if either manager could take something positive from Saturday’s game, it was probably Paul Jewell, of Derby, whose team recovered some composure after the 6-0 home defeat by Aston Villa the previous weekend to record a third successive away defeat by a single goal. That recent record hints at the sort of character they will need to show on a weekly basis next season if they are to challenge for an immediate return to the Barclays Premier League.

“This season is a write-off,” Jewell said. “The points are almost irrelevant, although we want them, but next season is the one that counts. I know we have got to get it right next season, and I’m fairly confident that we will.”

Jewell’s side seemed to have claimed a morale-boosting draw when Tyrone Mears – who joined Derby from West Ham in January 2007 after failing to impress in six months at Upton Park – cancelled out Bobby Zamora’s overdue first goal of the season after 65 minutes, outpacing Fredrik Ljungberg to beat Robert Green, the West Ham goalkeeper.

“It was good to come back and show a few people what I could do,” Mears said. “I hope that they’re asking whatever happened to Tyrone Mears now. Losing to Villa kind of shook us up a bit. People expect us to roll over and die, and the term ‘whipping boys’ has been used a lot. But we’re trying to show a bit of pride for the fans. We’re going to be completely different next season. We are going to be animals on the pitch. We are going to be as fit as fiddles.”

West Ham, though, stole the points when Carlton Cole, who took the field to jeers after replacing Freddie Sears, converted Ljungberg’s cross from close range three minutes later.

Cole is one of the players who has had increased first-team opportunities thanks to the many bumps and bruises in the East End, not that the locals have been impressed. The owners, too, have hinted that Alan Curbishley’s squad may have to be trimmed in the summer and Cole knows that he and others face a more strenuous battle for their futures at the club, let alone for playing time.

“Do we have to fight for our futures? Definitely,” Cole said. “We have to fight all the time. We’ve had a lot of injuries and a few of the players have not played much. They’re going to want to get in the team next season. There’s going to be a lot of competition in terms of who’s going to stay and who’s going to go. There could be a few worried people this summer. But that’s how football is.”

West Ham United (4-4-2): R Green 6 – J Paintsil 5, L Neill 5, J Tomkins 7, G McCartney 6 – J Faubert 4 (sub: N Solano, 78min), S Parker 5, M Noble 6, F Ljungberg 5 (sub: L Boa Morte, 90) – R Zamora 4, F Sears 4 (sub: C Cole, 73). Substitutes not used: J Walker, H Mullins. Booked: Noble, Parker. Next: Newcastle (h).

Derby County (4-4-2): R Carroll 6 – A Todd 5 (sub: J McEveley, 83), D Leacock 4, A Stubbs 5, E Lewis 5 – T Mears 7, R Savage 5, H Ghaly 6, D Jones 5 (sub: E Villa, 75) – M Sterjovski 4, K Miller 5. Substitutes not used: L Price, B Feilhaber, D Moore. Booked: Stubbs. Next: Arsenal (h).

Referee: S Tanner
Attendance: 34,612