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ALAN Curbishley has praised former West Ham captain Nigel Reo-Coker ahead of Sunday's Premier League showdown with Aston Villa.

Reo-Coker left Upton Park for Villa Park under a cloud last summer after claiming the club's fans blamed him for the Irons slump in form and the sacking of manager Alan Pardew.

Before leaving in a £7.5million deal, however, the England Under-21 international helped the Hammers stave off relegation on the final day of last season.

And Curbishley was quick to recognise the midfielder's achievements ahead of his first game back at the Boleyn Ground - an event expected to be marked with dissatisfaction by many home fans.

"All I know is that I walked into something last Christmas (2006) and there was a lot of feeling around the club," said Curbishley.

"We were third-from-bottom and there was a lot of flak flying around and he was getting singled out for some of it.

"We had a chat about it, like I have with some of the players now, and told him the only way he could deal with it was to get on with it.

"Obviously he wasn't happy about it but I told him to get through to the end of the season because the club is more important than anything else."

The Irons boss even compared the influence of Reo-Coker, 24 next Wednesday, to that of goalkeeper Robert Green, Mark Noble and Carlos Tevez, who supporters recognise as the major reasons for the club's survival.

"I thought in the second half of the season, from the Manchester United game where he got the winner, his performances in the run-in were up there with the contributions the others made," the manager added.

"Greeny had a fantastic run-in, Ferdinand and Collins did fantastically well, as did Noble, Bobby Zamora and Tevez and he was part of that.

"I think he got back to where he should have been. I was delighted with his performances."

However, some supporters were not so impressed and they are expected to show that by giving Reo-Coker a less than friendly reception on Sunday.

"I think that's part and parcel of football now," Curbishley observed.

"Some clubs react differently when old players go back. I'm sure him and Marlon Harewood will just get on with it.

"There was always going to be some changes in the summer and my only disappointment is the ones that we brought in have not played."

1:27pm Friday 9th May 2008

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