Hammers hero Parker heading in the right direction

Not much has gone right since.

But the injury-plagued star may have turned the corner, judging by his performance for West Ham on Saturday after he scored a superb solo winner in the 90th minute.

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Parker said: "When you've been out for so long, and had a lot of disappointments, it doesn't get much better than scoring a last-minute winner and it's good to be back.

"This moment has been a long time coming, and I've had to be patient. I got injured in pre-season with a medial ligament problem and although I was supposed to be out for between four and six weeks, it just dragged on and on.

"It only added to the frustration that there were a couple of setbacks along the way but the fans have had to wait until nearly Christmas for me to get off the mark so I hope it was worth the wait."

Parker believes his career can move forward again after rejoining West Ham boss Alan Curbishley, the man who nurtured his talent at Charlton.

"Alan knows me and I know him which can't be a bad thing," he said.

Parker went from The Valley to Chelsea in 2004 for £10million but moved to Newcastle and then on to West Ham.

He had a good first year at St James's Park and was a firm favourite with fans who rewarded him with their Player of the Season award.

Then he became injured and things started to wrong but he added: "I haven't got a bad word to say about Newcastle. Things go wrong for people in all walks of life and I'm just happy to be back playing again.

"The team are in decent shape and who knows where we might finish in the final shake-up?"

Curbishley conceded some of his big-name players are having to play themselves fit in the Barclays Premier League, such are his injury problems.

That can sometimes be no bad thing, particularly for Dean Ashton.

He is not yet at his sharpest but the England hopeful scored a superb equaliser just before half-time.

It was a turning point, robbing Middlesbrough of belief and negating a 40th-minute David Wheater goal.

Boro's Luke Young said: "Maybe we were still celebrating our goal a little bit but we had to close the half out.

"To come in at 1-0 up would have been a completely different feeling so to concede just before the break was tough.

"That is something we have got to learn — and fast."

Boro manager Gareth Southgate said: "You've got to get over your disappointments very quickly in this league and at this time of year you also have the opportunity to put things right very quickly.

"I hate losing but I'm somebody who can keep it in perspective.

"When you're in charge, you've got to lead the players through it."