West Ham captain Declan Rice praised the desire of the squad and believes two more wins will be enough to keep the Hammers in the Premier League after their hard-fought victory at Fulham.
A Harrison Reed own goal settled a dull contest 1-0 in favour of the visitors at Craven Cottage as David Moyes’ side bounced back from a midweek thrashing at the hands of Newcastle.
It was anything but a memorable afternoon by the Thames but the win, a first on the road for West Ham in the league since August, gives them breathing space to the bottom three.
“The win is a credit to our defence,” Rice told the club’s official website.
“There are teams around us (in the table) who won and teams around us who lost. We can only worry about ourselves, and I think a couple more wins and we’ll be just fine.
“It’s a massive step and shows the character and desire. The club doesn’t deserve to be where it is, but we are because we haven’t been as good on the pitch as we were last season and now we’re trying to dig ourselves out of it.
“It’s a massive week, three games gone, and now we go on to a massive (Europa Conference League) quarter-final in Genk. There are a lot of positives to head into the new week with.”
Despite the win, the travelling supporters vented their frustration at Moyes – chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” as he made second-half substitutions and unfurling a ‘Moyes Out’ banner, too.
However, Rice – who has been heavily linked with a move away from the London Stadium this summer – dedicated the three points to the fans.
“The fans deserve that 100 per cent,” he added.
“They’re the best, I’ve always said it. Obviously, when things get tough they voice their opinions and you’ve got to take it on the chin, but on the other hand for me, when they’re at it they’re the best in the world.
“I love playing in front of them, they cheer your name, they cheer the team…it is a Saturday afternoon, three points, and you don’t get much better than that.”
Fulham have now lost their last four league games as outside hopes of
European qualification continue to dwindle.
They will be without captain and talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic for another six games through suspension but Willian – who returned from his own ban against West Ham – is keen to not let a fine season dwindle out.
“We will try to improve in training and will look to win the games ahead,” he said.
“We have been good this season, and played some good football.
“We want to get back to our best level. Of course we don’t want the season to end on a down, nobody wants that. We want to doing good things, and get back to that.”
