Ferdinand: no match for West Ham

Former Hammers target Kane Ferdinand says his Southend United team were distinctly second best against Sam Allardyce's side at the weekend.

West Ham recorded their first win of pre-season with Saturday's 3-0 success at Roots Hall; the goals coming from Nicky Maynard, Jordan Spence and Sam Baldock, who maintained his record of having scored in every game of pre-season.

And Ferdinand - who was first linked with a move to Upton Park in June 2011 - admitted that the two teams were a class apart.

"I think the difference in class between the two teams was there to see but it was good for us to get out there again," the relative of former Hammers Rio, Anton and Les Ferdinand told the Echo.

"West Ham have been back in training a few more weeks than we have and that showed as well, but it was nice to get a game in. The matches help to break up the hard runs and training we’re doing and I’m sure this will have done us good."

Meanwhile West Ham's assistant manager Neil McDonald was once again pleased with efforts of the team. They're getting stronger and they're getting fitter which is what pre-season is all about," he told whufc.com.

"It was nice to get some goals as well, which was great. With another good week of work under their belts and having played two games this week, it's building up well in pre-season.

"We passed the ball really well and kept it moving. We've been working on keeping the ball and passing and moving during the past two weeks and we now just need to build their fitness up. We played some really nice stuff at times."