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Sam Allardyce believes Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood has shown he can handle the pressure of managing at the highest level.
Sherwood takes his side to face Allardyce's West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday looking to avoid a third defeat of the season at the hands of the Hammers.
The 45-year-old replaced Andre Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane in December but has constantly had his position undermined as other names are linked with the job.
Allardyce has also come under pressure recently as a number of West Ham fans have started calling for his head after a run of four straight defeats.
But the former Bolton and Blackburn boss knows that no-one can predict what will happen within the sport and feels Sherwood has done well during his short tenure.
"In our field you never know what's going to happen," he said.
West Ham: The latest match picturesShow all 74 1 /74West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham: The latest match pictures Everton 2 West Ham 1 Andy Carroll started his first game for West Ham since May - he's been struggling with an ankle injury
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Everton 2 West Ham 1 Ross Barkley goes down under a tackle from Hammers skipper Kevin Nolan
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Everton 2 West Ham 1 Romelu Lukaku fired in the opener for the Toffees in the first-half
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Everton 2 West Ham 1 James Collins and James McCarthy get in each others' faces
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Everton 2 West Ham 1 Mauro Zarate celebrates after eqaulising for West Ham, his first goal since the opening day of the season
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Everton 2 West Ham 1 Leon Osman celebrates what turned out to be the winning goal at Goodison Park
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Emmanuel Adebayor looks on frustrated during his team's defeat
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stewart Downing celebrates his goal with teammates Andy Carroll and Mark Noble
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stwart Downing puts West Ham two up with a free kick
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Mohamed Diame clears the ball in acrobatic style
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Andy Carroll celebrates after West Ham take the lead, the goal would go down as a Harry Kane og
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Referee Phil Dowd shows Younes Kaboul a red card
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Brom 1 West Ham 0 A portion of the West Ham fans display their displeasure over manager Sam Allardyce
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Brom 1 West Ham 0 Mohamed Diame dribble with the ball
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Brom 1 West Ham 0 Guy Demel holds off a challenge from Chris Brunt
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Brom 1 West Ham 0 Andy Carroll plays a ball across the Baggies' box but fails to find a teammate
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Brom 1 West Ham 0 Saido Berahino celebrates his opening goal with his teammates Stephane Sessegnon and Chris Brunt
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Brom 1 West Ham 0 Saido Berahino wheels away after firing home the Baggies' opener
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 0 Crystal Palace 1 Andy Carroll looks on dejected
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 0 Crystal Palace 1 Mile Jedinak celebrates with his teammates after putting Palace ahead from the penalty spot
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 0 Crystal Palace 1 Andy Carroll climbs above Damien Delaney to head an effort at goal
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 0 Crystal Palace 1 Winston Reid shields the ball from Cameron Jerome
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 0 Crystal Palace 1 The teams observe a minutes applause for West Ham player, 20-year-old Dylan Tombides who died following a three-year battle with testicular cancer
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Arsenal 3 West Ham 1 Kim Kallstrom leaps for the ball last night, when he made an encouraging start for Arsenal after a long injury lay-off
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Arsenal 3 West Ham 1 Lukas Podolski hammers in Arsenal's third
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Arsenal 3 West Ham 1 Oliver Giroud puts Arsenal ahead with his weaker right foot after showing sublime touch to get the ball under control
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Arsenal 3 West Ham 1 Oliver Giroud kisses the Arsenal badge after giving the Gunners the lead
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Arsenal 3 West Ham 1 Lukas Podolski equalises with a precise, powerful finish
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Arsenal 3 West Ham 1 Players, fans and officials observe a minute's silence to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster prior to kick-off
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Steven Gerard leads Liverpool's celebration after scoring his second penalty of the afternoon
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Adrian appears to win the ball but brings down Jon Flanagan too and referee Anthony Taylor awards Liverpool their second penalty
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Steven Gerard tries to chase down Mohamed Diame
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Raheem Sterling and Pablo Armero compete for the ball
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Liverpool players protest against Guy Demel's equaliser after Andy Carroll appeared to foul goalkeeper Simon Mignolet
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Steven Gerard celebrates after scoring his penalty
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Steven Gerard makes no mistake from the spot to put Liverpool ahead
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Luis Suarez forces James Tomkins into a hand ball and giving away a penalty
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Luis Suarez's chipped effort hits the bar
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Jordan Henderson clashes with Matthew Taylor
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 Luis Suarez hits a free kick over the bar
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Sunderland 1 West Ham 2 Andy Carroll celebrates after his header opened the scoring
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Sunderland 1 West Ham 2 Sam Allardyce the West Ham manager and Gustavo Poyet the Sunderland manager react during the Premier League match at the Stadium of Light
West Ham: The latest match pictures Sunderland 1 West Ham 2 Marcos Alonso of Sunderland takes a shot on goal
West Ham: The latest match pictures Sunderland 1 West Ham 2 Adam Johnson of Sunderland is challenged by Kevin Nolan
West Ham: The latest match pictures Sunderland 1 West Ham 2 Goalkeeper Adrian of West Ham dives in vain as Adam Johnson of Sunderland scores his team's goal
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Hull City 1 Sam Allardyce responds to West ham fans booing at the final whistle of their 2-1 victory over Hull
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Hull City 1 Mohamed Diamé is fouled by Hull keeper Allan McGregor, who was sent off
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Hull City 1 Mark Noble celebrates after demonstrating his trademark coolness from the penalty spot
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Stoke 3 West Ham 1 Stoke players celebrate going 3-1 up
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Stoke 3 West Ham 1 Marko Arnautovic puts Stoke up
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Stoke 3 West Ham 1 Peter Crouch beats James Tomkins to the ball to set up Stoke's leveller
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Stoke 3 West Ham 1 Andy Carroll and James Tomkins celebrate going ahead in front of the Stoke fans
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Stoke 3 West Ham 1 Andy Carroll heads West Ham in front
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West Ham: The latest match pictures Everton 1 West Ham 0 Romelu Lukaku scores a late winner for Everton
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 3 Southampton 1 Kevin Nolan celebrates is goal
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 3 Southampton 1 Kevin Nolan acrobatically scores West Ham's third goal
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 3 Southampton 1 Carlton Cole puts West Ham 2-1 up against Southampton at Upton Park
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 West Ham take on Norwich
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 The Boleyn Ground before kick off
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 Mark Noble competes for the ball
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 Sam Allardyce gesticulating weirdly
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 Guy Demel holds off Leroy Fer
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 Chris Hughton gesticulating to his players
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 James Collins opens the scoring
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 Mohamed Diame scores the Hammers' second goal
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Norwich 0 West Ham celebrate their second goal
West Ham: The latest match pictures Aston Villa 0 West Ham 2 Kevin Nolan celebrates scoring for West Ham against Aston Villa
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West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Swansea 0 Jonathan de Guzman goes past Stewart Downing
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Swansea 0 Kevin Nolan scores the first goal
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Swansea 0 Kevin Nolan celebrates his goal
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Swansea 0 Kevin Nolan scores the second goal
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Swansea 0 Kevin Nolan celebrates his second goal
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Swansea 0 Andy Carroll is sent off
West Ham: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Swansea 0 Nathan Dyer challenges Guy Demel for the ball
"You're never comfortable, wherever you are, and in Tim's position I think he's proven that he can handle the job and he's proven that he's learned as he's gone on.
"You're bound to slip up when you're doing it for the first time, I still slip up after 20-odd years. We all make mistakes, but you learn from them and I think he's learned very quickly.
"I think Tottenham have done very, very well under him and what they decide at the end of the day is up to the owners and board at Tottenham."
Having already beaten Spurs twice at White Hart Lane this season, once in the league and then in a Capital One Cup quarter-final, West Ham defender Winston Reid is keen to complete a memorable hat-trick against their local rivals.
"We've got Tottenham on Saturday and we'd all love to end at home with our third win over them of the season," he told the club's official website.
"It's a local derby and I'm sure the fans will be up for it. We have to go out and make things right after we lost our last couple of home games, so we'll be looking to improve on that.
"The two wins over them have been two of the highlights of the season. We know it'll be another tough game on Saturday, but we'll relish the challenge.
"We haven't been winning lately, but but we've got two games left and we'll do our best to pick up as many points as possible."
Allardyce is aware of the threat that will be posed by sixth-placed Tottenham but is hopeful his side can pick up a result and begin to turn the tide of fan discomfort.
"They come and play and try and open up because of the quality of players that they have," he said.
"They will think their eleven is better than yours, but on the day if your players hit top form we're more than capable of beating them.
"We have to be very wary of what their strengths are and make sure their strengths are nullified. Then we have to make sure we use our strengths to try and break their defensive unit down and take our chances when we get them."
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