The Hammers extended their winless streak to seven games, following their goalless draw against Portsmouth.
Zola said: “That point means a lot to us – especially for the defenders’ confidence.
“The players gave everything and I couldn’t ask for more. We tried to attack and we made changes and tried again but Portsmouth were very solid and didn’t give us anything.
“We really tried but quite honestly I didn’t expect Portsmouth to be that good at the back.
“We also needed some good saves from our goalkeeper (Robert Green) when they came back at us and in the end it was a good result considering we have lost five of the previous six games.”
