Sunk by super Ted

The Clarets boss had started the day insisting his side were capable of mounting a late charge for the top-six but after Sheringham pounced to score an 83rd minute winner, even Cotterill was forced to admit the game is finally up for his battle weary troops.

It was a sad way for Burnley's season to fizzle out given the extraordinary effort the players have put in over the last nine arduous months.

When Cotterill succeeded Stan Ternent last summer, his primary objective was to bring stability to a club that was fighting for its very survival.

What has since been achieved has surpassed all expectations, but Cotterill's dream of a late push for promotion ultimately proved a bridge too far for a squad of players who have given their all during a transitional season for the club.

Although Cotterill won't give up the fight until it's mathematically impossible, he conceded a top six finish now appears to be out of the question.

Nevertheless, the disappointment he felt in the immediate aftermath of this heartbreaking defeat will at least have been tempered by the sense of pride he feels at the way the club has moved forward under his shrewd direction.

The philosophical Clarets boss said: "It's always been in other peoples' hands but whether we can or we can't (still make the play-offs), we are talking about a team that has gone from 19th to being potentially bankrupt; to have had the cup run we've had, to being where we are in the league now, to talking about the play-offs.

"Maybe it's too much to talk about all that in one breath."

Cotterill can take many positives from a season of real progress, but there were precious few to take from this performance on a night when too many players failed to do themselves justice.

Only John McGreal, Gary Cahill and Micah Hyde performed to anything like their usual standards and too many in Claret and Blue appeared to lack the belief that a play-off place was still within their grasp at the start of the evening.

That might go some way towards explaining a rather languid Burnley performance.

The Clarets lacked both the imagination and guile to break down a stubborn West Ham rearguard.

In fairness, the Hammers weren't much better either but in Sheringham they had the game's outstanding player, and if anyone was going to break the deadlock then it was always going to be the former Manchester United and England striker, albeit with a little help from John Oster.

The match had 0-0 written all over it until Oster suddenly had a rush of blood and attempted to pass the ball back to Danny Coyne with seven minutes remaining.

Unfortunately, the Clarets midfielder sold his keeper short and Marlon Harewood was onto it in a flash, using his pace to glide past Coyne before crossing for the unmarked Sheringham to stroke home his 20th goal of a productive campaign.

Ironically, Cotterill had been attempting to replace Oster with Jean-Louis Valois just seconds before his unforced error, just to rub salt into the wounds.

"It's very disappointing," said the Burnley boss.

"It was a stupid goal to give away and I didn't actually see it go in.

"The last time I saw it, it was in Danny Coyne's hands and then when I turned around again, it was in the back of our net."

Earlier, it was Burnley who had created the game's first opening when James O'Connor sent Ade Akinbiyi scampering through the centre but as the bustling striker prepared to pull the trigger, the ball wouldn't sit up kindly and Anton Ferdinand, the younger brother of England defender Rio, recovered to make a saving tackle.

That early scare sparked the Hammers into life and they enjoyed a 15 minute purple patch after that.

Coyne, who was making his first start since the end of October, had to react sharply to tip over a deflected shot from Harewood, a Sheringham snap-shot flashed inches over the bar, then Coyne denied Harewood again with a save at full-stretch following a mistake by Micah Hyde.

The Clarets successfully weathered that storm, though, and as the half wore on, they began to make some in-roads of their own going forward.

Graham Branch might have done better than head tamely at Hammers keeper Jimmy Walker after rising to meet a Mo Camara cross, then Akinbiyi chested the ball off to O'Connor but a defender managed to get his body in the way to block the midfielder's goal-bound shot.

Burnley's best chance of the half fell to Akinbiyi right on the stroke of half-time.

The former Stoke man showed great strength to shrug off Ferdinand on the left hand side of the area but his finish lacked the necessary precision to beat Walker and skidded wide of the far post.

The half-time interval came at the wrong time for the Clarets because they struggled to keep the same momentum going after the break.

As passes started going astray, they found it increasingly difficult to string together anything in the way of constructive moves.

Branch and O'Connor both had shots that went out for throw-ins, then when Camara finally got in behind the Hammers' defence, he failed to pick out a team-mate with his cutback.

With time running out, Sheringham curled a shot just wide of the post before the Clarets reached for the self-destruct button in the 83rd minute.

Coyne threw the ball out to Oster, who attempted to pass it back to his keeper but he only succeeded in releasing Harewood and Sheringham did the rest, clinically tucking away his ninth goal in 11 games.

It was a disappointing end to a disappointing night.

West Ham (4-4-2): Walker; Repka, Ferdinand, Ward, Powell; Newton, Reo-Coker, Mullins, Noble; Sheringham, Harewood. Subs: Fletcher (for Mullins, 76), Etherington (for Noble, 76), Zamora (for Harewood, 85) Not used: Williams, Bywater

Referee: Mr K Friend 6

Bookings: Burnley; Camara West Ham; Mullins, Reo-Coker

Sendings off: None

Attendance:

12,209

Goals:

0-1 - Sheringham, 83 mins