Sam Allardyce could not hide his delight after West Ham United secured one of their greatest-ever away results with a 4-1 npower Championship win at Blackpool on Tuesday.

The Hammers were leading 2-1 when goalkeeper Robert Green was sent off in the 54th minute and, with no substitute goalkeeper on the bench, midfielder Henri Lansbury had to go in goal. But rather than resting on their laurels, the Hammers went on to attack the home side and were rewarded with maiden goals from Gary O'Neil and Ricardo Vaz Te.

"I can't imagine how the lads feel as they're so excited about the result and what they've achieved," Big Sam said. "The thousands of West Ham fans who were here must have seen one of the finest West Ham performances they've ever seen in the entire time they've been watching West Ham United.

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"To win as we did and the way we played against all the odds was magnificent. To score even more goals when we went down to ten men to go from 2-1 to 4-1 was amazing.

"Nicky Maynard might have made it even more so we didn't just defend correctly with ten men we just took them apart when we had the opportunity with some fantastic finishing."

Lansbury's clean-sheet performance is likely to go down in West Ham folklore as he showed some assured handling and solid command of his area during his 36 minutes in goal - plus six minutes of added-time.

"He's an outfield player who had a very accomplished game in goal today. There weren't many good chances created by Blackpool because of the quality of our defending but he did the basics brilliantly - the kicking and the handling - and he got a great reception from the fans."

Green's sending-off meant the Hammers had to finish a game with ten men for the third consecutive fixture. But just as they did against Millwall and Southampton, the Hammers stuck together and made it seven points from nine.

"We'd been threatening to do this for a long time when we had ten against 11. It really is a fantastic result. We got three points when we were fighting against the elements from having Robert sent off.

"I thought it was a bad decision as we had players covering and it should be a yellow card maximum but of we've managed to overcome that and it's not cost us."

Big Sam felt that the superb sequence of results in tricky circumstances has helped to show the character of his team. That togetherness will again be tested when Crystal Palace visit the Boleyn Ground on Saturday, when the Hammers will look to maintain top spot in the npower Championship.

"We're doing it the hard way, that's what it's telling us. Every player is doing his bit when we get something that is going against us and we seem to find the resilience and the ability and skill to overcome it. In my time I've never seen anything like it.

"We've picked up three results - two wins and a draw - after going down to ten men. Once after eight minutes, once after 20 minutes and against Blackpool after 54 minutes. It's great credit to the lads and their ability and the desire that they wanted to achieve promotion automatically if we can.

"This was a catch-up game and I've talked about getting the points in the bag and we've done that with great style and great ability."

Maynard and Vaz Te added to the feelgood factor of the night with their first goals in claret and blue. Their manager has expressed the need for more clinical finishing in recent weeks and he certainly got his wish with two superbly taken goals, which complemented a header from James Tomkins and a first goal from Gary O'Neil.

"I was very pleased to see the new boys get some goals. We wasted some chances early on. Nicky Maynard had one that got a touch on someone, Faye had a header from four yards out and that was before we got the two goals so we were on really top form before that.

"The only disappointing thing was Kevin Phillips scoring on the stroke of half time."

The result was all the more impressive as Blackpool had not lost in the league this calendar year and came into the game on the back of an impressive home run of form.

"We cherish the three points and the way that we've got them. It was an outstanding performance from every individual. The quality that they showed today was of a great standard, especially as Blackpool have only lost two at home all season and won nine - we really took them apart."

The West Ham fans were in superb voice all night and led with some strong backing for their new stand-in goalkeeper. Big Sam was delighted that they were rewarded with a win worthy of such vociferous travelling support.

"They've spent their well-earned money and would have to have left work early but we have paid them back handsomely.

"To see your team win 4-1 with ten men must please them and I think you can remember this result for a long, long time as it's a brilliant result under the circumstances."