- Mark Noble delighted with back-to-back home wins over Burnley and Hull City
- Captain scored the winner for the second match in succession at London Stadium
- Hammers up to 13th after collecting seven points in the space of seven days
Mark Noble says West Ham United can go into Christmas with confidence after securing seven Premier League points in the space of seven days.
The skipper netted the winner for the second game in succession to see the Hammers past struggling Hull City at London Stadium in the final home game of 2016.
West Ham rode their luck against the Tigers, who hit the post no fewer than three times during a fraught 90 minutes, before Noble confidently slotted home his fourth of the season after Tom Huddlestone had fouled Michail Antonio.
"Seven points in a week is massive for us, as are two clean sheets at home and two 1-0 wins. They weren't the best performances, but these are the games you have to win.
"Hull and Burnley are probably the most honest, hard-working teams in the league but we competed with them and kept two clean sheets.
“The result was 100 per cent more important than the performance. In the position we’re in, hopefully not any longer, so in the position we were in, winning is all that matters. This is a results business. Results breed confidence and hopefully that’s starting to build itself up.”
Seven points in a week is massive for us, as are two clean sheets at home and two 1-0 wins. They weren't the best performances, but these are the games you have to win
Mark Noble
“I’ve headed one onto my own post and it came back out, and sometimes those go in against you,” he observed. “I’ve not seen the penalty, to be honest, so I don’t know if it was or it wasn’t, but who cares!
“I’ve said many times before, the amount of penalties I have taken and will take, I’m bound to miss one from time to time, and luckily enough when I missed on Wednesday it popped back out to me and I scored.
“I had another one today and was confident I was going to score it.”
Having drawn 2-2 at Liverpool and beaten Burnley 1-0 at home prior to Saturday’s success, West Ham have now established a five-point gap between themselves and the bottom three.
Having finished seventh last season, the match-winner now wants the Hammers to kick on in away games at Swansea City and Leicester City over the festive season.
“I’m hoping it’s time to look up for us, rather than down. It’s been a really big week for us and all we’ve got to do is win games because that puts pressure on other clubs.
“We’ve got nine days now until our next game, so we’ve got a little bit of a rest after three games in a week and hopefully we can go away to Swansea and get some points.
“I’m hoping this can be a really productive Christmas. I would have snapped your hand off for seven points this week with Liverpool away after a big defeat here against Arsenal, and two really tough home games where we’ve kept clean sheets, which were massive.
“Like I said, we can look forward now."