FOUR and a half months ago, Niko Kranjcar was part of the Croatia side that ended England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 with a 3-2 win at Wembley.

That very same week, West Ham drew at home with Tottenham and gained a point that put them 10th in the Premier League table.

Some 137 days later, the aimless Irons are still marooned in 10th after Kranjcar's pinpoint 61st minute strike secured Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth - who will head back to Wembley for next month's FA Cup final - victory at Upton Park.

Stuck in no man's land since November 25, Alan Curbishley's team have been going through the motions for quite some time now.

And despite Curbishley's call for a victory that would close the gap on ninth-placed Manchester City to just two points, his side produced a clueless display that lacked almost everything.

Kranjcar, who will be part of former Hammer Slaven Bilic's Croatia squad at this summer's finals, then took the game over in the second half.

Twice the 23-year-old fired well-struck shots narrowly off-target, but the Irons' defence clearly did not heed the warnings as the midfielder was afforded enough space on the edge of the penalty area to turn and toe-poke the ball powerfully past Robert Green from 20 yards.

Despite there being more than half-an-hour remaining West Ham, who have not beaten Portsmouth since January 1993 - 18-months before Redknapp took over at Upton Park - never once looked like finding an equaliser.