West Ham manager Avram Grant paid tribute to Robert Green after the goalkeeper's impressive display in the 1-1 draw against Fulham.

Green pulled off a string of saves as he faced USA forward Clint Dempsey for the first time since his error allowed Dempsey to score in the World Cup.

"I'm very happy for my goalkeeper. His performance was good and his character was good too," said Grant.

"It's only because of the World Cup that everyone is speaking about him."

Dempsey had fired past Green to give Fulham the lead in the first half of the London derby but the goalkeeper responded with a towering performance after the break.

The 30-year-old made saves from Dickson Etuhu, Simon Davies and Dempsey in a confident display that was in stark contrast to his shaky early season form.

"Every player sometimes has bad moments. Some players have it in the middle of the season, he had it at the start of season. He was a good goalkeeper and still is," said Grant.

Fulham manager Mark Hughes chose to focus on the performance of referee Andre Marriner, who turned down the Cottagers' appeals for a first-half penalty when Eddie Johnson was challenged in the box by Lars Jacobsen.

"I am disappointed we didn't get the penalty because at 2-0 going into half-time it would have been difficult for them to come back," said Hughes, whose side were denied victory by Frederic Piquionne's second-half header.

"Eddie got in behind the defence and if there is any contact whatsoever then more often than not it is a penalty.

"Unfortunately for us, for whatever reason, it wasn't given. From our point of view it was clear, there was a coming together, a tangle of legs and a goalscoring opportunity was denied, so it should have been a penalty."

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