Ferdinand to aid West Ham fight

West Ham United FC have signed former England striker Les Ferdinand in a short-term deal from Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Struggling side
The 36-year-old has moved across London in the hope of helping West Ham avoid relegation. They are bottom of the Premiership, with just 17 points from 23 games. Ferdinand will be involved when his new club travel to another capital side, Charlton Athletic FC, tomorrow night. However, he has not been registered in time for Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round match at Manchester United FC.

Roeder delighted
"We've had to show a lot of patience," West Ham manager Glenn Roeder told the club's official website. "We targeted Les quite a long time ago now, but we had to wait for the [transfer] window to open, and then for Tottenham to give us permission to talk to him, which has enabled us to bring him to Upton Park at last.

Determined to succeed
"When I spoke to Les last night he was very enthusiastic about joining us and has got the belief, like the rest of the squad, that we will have climbed out the bottom three come the middle of May, and achieved our goal for this season."

England international
Ferdinand, who scored five goals in 17 matches for England, started his career with Queen's Park Rangers FC and spent nine seasons with the club, except for a loan spell at Turkish side Besiktas JK in the 1988/89 season when he scored 14 goals in 24 games. In 1995, he joined Newcastle United FC and spent two seasons on Tyneside, scoring 41 goals in 68 games.

Family affair
He then moved on to Tottenham but, after five seasons as a regular, found first-team chances limited this campaign. He will join his second cousin Anton Ferdinand, younger brother of England defender Rio, at West Ham.