Another day went by without any fresh news on the transfer front at Carrow Road, with Norwich City continuing to stress that there was nothing new to report on the futures of Dean Ashton and Robert Green.

Another day went by without any fresh news on the transfer front at Carrow Road, with Norwich City continuing to stress that there was nothing new to report on the futures of Dean Ashton and Robert Green.

Ashton was linked with a £7m move to West Ham at the weekend while Manchester City are also thought to be keen on offering the player a route back to the Premiership. But the Canaries have yet to receive an offer for the striker that interests them - and won't be making any public comments on the situation unless one comes in.

The same applies to Green who, according to agent Andy Evans, was flattered by Portsmouth's reported interest at the tail end of last week. Pompey boss Harry Redknapp stated on Friday that he "wouldn't be going down that road" - and so far he has been as good as his word.

Hammers manager Alan Pardew had nothing to say about the Ashton links yesterday, but did admit the rumours were having a positive effect on striker Bobby Zamora.

"There is speculation about a new striker coming in and I like to think that has egged him on," he said.

"He was stagnating when we signed him from Tottenham last season and I thought he would be a terrific acquisition for West Ham, particularly knowing he was a fan of the Hammers.

"Last season maybe the pressure of trying to get out of the Championship from sixth place had an effect on him and players like Marlon Harewood."

Pardew was in Holland on Sunday running the rule over Ajax's young full-back Nigel de Jong as a likely replacement for Thomas Repka who is set to return to the Czech Republic and join Sparta Prague.

Pardew saw De Jong star in a 1-1 draw with NEC Nijmegen and is considering a move for the defender who has been outstanding in Ajax's Champions League campaign.

He is out of contract in Amsterdam at the end of the season and could be available now for less than £1million.

But Pardew also wants more fire-power in his squad, despite goals by Zamora and Harewood putting West Ham back on the Premiership winning trail at Aston Villa at the weekend.

He bought Israeli striker Yaniv Katan for a modest fee last month and Zamora and Harewood have scored 18 goals between them this season, but veteran Teddy Sheringham, who was in fine form earlier this season, has missed the last 10 games with a calf injury.

And Pardew has lost on-loan French striker David Bellion to Lille with Manchester United transferring the young striker there last week after initially agreeing to let Hammers borrow him for the rest of the season.

Bellion was quoted as saying he had made a 'bad decsion' in moving to the east London club.