IT may have taken six years but, at last, the Reebok is starting to feel like home.

On Saturday there was an atmosphere to rival the old Burnden roar, a tingle of expectation and a team to be proud of - who cares if they are all foreigners.

And then there is Jay-Jay.

What a star, what an entertainer, what a footballer.

And what a goal, worthy enough to win any award, but what is more, worthy enough to burst West Ham's bubble and take us six poiints clear with a superior goal difference.

With only four games to go, one more point will mean West Ham will have to win three of their last four games to overtake us. Judging by Saturday's performance I can't see them winning any.

They came to the Reebok as the form team of the Premiership, unbeaten in six, clawing at our heels, trying to get on level points with us. They left looking frustrated - and relegated. On this performance their last six opponents must have been poor.

Back to the game and apart from the goal and a nervous five minute spell in the second half - even Laville looked edgy for a while - my abiding memory will be of Simon Charlton's perfectly timed lunge at West ham striker Freddie Kanute's feet just as the West Ham striker was about to pull the trigger for what looked to be a certain goal midway through the second half. I seemed to sense then that the game was up. West Ham were not going to score if we had played until Easter Monday and safety was almost secured for a second succssive year and unlike Bolton of old, they had not let their fans down in the biggest game of the year.

Man of the match: Sam Allardyce - the man who signed Jay-Jay Okocha.