New West Ham boss Scott Parker says Wednesday's remarkable three-goal comeback against Cardiff City should be viewed as a learning opportunity for everyone at the club.
Parker to treat three-goal comeback as a learning opportunity for West Ham
West Ham had to come from three goals down to rescue a point in Scott Parker's first game, while there were big wins for Wrexham and Wolves.
Former Hammers midfielder Parker was only appointed by the club on Wednesday morning, following the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo.
And within a few short hours, he cut a frustrated figure on the touchline in the Welsh capital as Jack Moylan's hat-trick saw West Ham go 3-0 down within 39 minutes.
However, second-half strikes from Divine Mukasa, Arne Engels and Max Kilman rescued a point for Parker's new team, who amassed 14 shots and 2.52 expected goals after the interval, compared to three efforts and 0.08 xG for Cardiff.
Prior to half-time, both teams had four shots apiece, but Cardiff had won the xG battle by 1.07 to 0.27, with their figure boosted by a Moylan penalty.
Speaking after the game, Parker said: "I met the boys for the first time this morning at the airport, so I haven't had much input, but I wanted to be on the sideline, and I decided not to just sit in the stands and oversee it.
"In the first half, we were clearly really poor. I thought we were poor in both phases of the game.
"Out of possession, we were quite passive at certain moments, and with the ball there was certainly a lot to work on. There were a lot of backwards passes, and the goalkeeper had a lot of touches."
Asked if West Ham's comeback came as a shock, Parker said: "Maybe not so much a surprise, but a big learning. The second half was the polar opposite to the first, really, and to come back into the game like we did was brilliant.
"It was a forceful team, an aggressive team, a front-footed team, which was obviously a big improvement.
"There's a lot of learning to take from this. It's a quick turnaround, but we'll go to Blackburn with a bit more influence from me."
West Ham sit eighth in the Championship after their draw, occupying the final play-off place, though they did inch within five points of leaders Middlesbrough, who lost 2-0 at Wrexham.
Goals from George Thomason and Oliver Rathbone in the final 20 minutes condemned Boro to just their second defeat of the campaign, and their first since going down 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers on August 22.
Wolves can now usurp them at the summit if they beat Wrexham in one of Saturday's early kick-offs, having climbed to second with a dramatic 2-1 win at Bristol City.
Cesar Peixoto's side looked set to see their unbeaten run halted at four games when Scott Twine's glorious free-kick put Bristol City in front in the first half, with the visitors still behind entering the 82nd minute.
But Newcastle United loanee Sean Neave scored his first two senior goals after coming off the bench, with the 19-year-old's late double flipping the result on its head.
Wolves have now lost just two of their last 19 league games against Bristol City (W13 D4), with their previous meeting in December 2017 also being a 2-1 victory secured by two late goals.
