MATCH-winner Lee Bowyer delivered a Hammer blow on his old club – and then called on his new team-mates to end Saturday night in a play-off place.

The tenacious midfielder is targeting a top six spot after his dramatic 89th minute winner sent the Blue Army into delirium at Upton Park.

Bowyer struck his first competitive goal for Ipswich and left fans daring to dream of a promotion push this season after their three-match unbeaten run continued in last night’s 1-0 win over West Ham.

The 34-year-old said: “I thought we thoroughly deserved the win and we now need to get three points Saturday (against Brighton) and get in the top six before the international break.

“To come here and play the way we did showed great character from the lads.

“A lot of teams will come here this season and crumble, it is a very demanding place to play and the crowd is very noisy.

“But I thought we handled that well – we knew if we started well, we could silence the crowd and they would turn and that is exactly what happened.”

The East End boy has now scored in three consecutive seasons against his old club and added: “I just wanted to keep it low and make the keeper work.

“I scored exactly the same sort of goal against them in the cup last season although that one was better as this one went through the keeper’s legs.”

Another fantastic performance on the road saw Town move up to 11th in the championship – just a point from the play-offs – and gave Ipswich three consecutive clean sheets for the first time in six-and-a-half years.

Of centre-back partnership Ibrahima Sonko and Danny Collins, Bowyer added: “It is no coincidence since they have been a partnership we have been more solid and harder to beat.”