THESE are edgy times down the East End. Nothing in the bank, a new manager high on idylls trying to coax beautiful football from a team low on confidence and a division tightening by the weekend. West Ham began the day two points off the bottom two but still within touching distance of respectability. They ended it all square with Portsmouth, a club also in the grip of uncertainty and change.

A second point from the last seven games — and a first clean sheet in 25 — was a small mercy as West Ham still had Robert Green to thank for a draw against a Portsmouth side intent for large periods on survival. The West Ham goalkeeper saved three times from Jermain Defoe, twice in three minutes just after half-time, and blocked another good effort with his legs when Portsmouth produced a rare flourish in the closing minutes. “On another day, Jermain gets a hat-trick,” said Tony Adams, the Portsmouth manager. “I think he was trying too hard.”

Predictably, the former West Ham striker was jeered at every turn — in contrast to the warm welcome accorded another Upton Park old boy, David James — and his missed chances were greeted with mirth, anything to disguise the truth that West Ham could easily have lost.

With the financial future so bleak and a fire sale in the January transfer window a real threat, the mid-table anonymity of last year might seem like the promised land by the end of this season, which is part of the problem. West Ham, a club with a proud history, have high expectations, too high on present form.

Gianfranco Zola, the personable Italian in charge, had led a week of introspection and, to use his own word, “confrontation” which, he said, had been positive. After conceding three goals in five minutes to Everton last week, a long look in the mirror was the least Zola would have demanded of his team. Certainly, industry was not one of West Ham’s faults yesterday. They worked hard and harried Portsmouth at every turn but their passing was woeful, particularly in the final third, and in the quest for greater solidity they lost fluidity of movement.

Portsmouth have endured much the same profile in the past few weeks, with the sudden departure of Harry Redknapp and rumours of the club being sold. So it was no surprise that a strange lethargy dominated the first half on the field and in the stands.

Zola changed the formation at half-time, pushing Craig Bellamy into attack alongside Carlton Cole and replacing Freddie Sears with Matthew Etherington for width.

A free kick by Bellamy that cracked off the Portsmouth bar was the sum of West Ham’s chances. Given that Lassana Diarra limped off after barely 20 minutes, Portsmouth will be happy with a point. “The clean sheet is really, really important for confidence,” said Zola. West Ham will be happy with any glimpse of security.

Star man: Robert Green (West Ham)

Yellow cards: Portsmouth: Pamarot

Referee: M Atkinson

Attendance: 32,328

WEST HAM: Green 8, Neill 6, Collins 5, Upson 6, Ilunga 5 (Faubert 60min), Behrami 5, Collison 6, Parker 5 (Mullins 75min), Bellamy 6, Cole 5, Sears 6 (Etherington 45min, 5)

PORTSMOUTH: James 6, Johnson 6, Kaboul 6, Distin 7, Pamarot 5, Diop 5, Diarra (Traore 19min, 6), Davis 6, Belhadj 5, Crouch 5 (Kanu 75min), Defoe 6.