Paolo Di Canio says the win against Chelsea showed that the side
have character as well as ability.
"Football is a mixture of skilful players, talent, attitude, and sacrifice, and against Chelsea we mixed all those ingredients to get a great result," he enthuses.
"That tells us that if we work hard like that we can be happy at the end of the game, unlike when we came home from Everton and Blackburn.
"Especially in the first 25 minutes we played very fast and very good football, and of course spent a lot of energy.
"We got the two goal advantage but we were under pressure for a lot of the game.
"But we sacrificed ourselves, I went to midfield, and I'm happy even though I didn't play very well in the last half an hour.
"But I gave my best for the squad."
But the important thing now, he insists, is to keep the momentum going, and he adds:
"We have to try to play like that every week; it's not easy but we have to do our best.
"It was three very important points and we are very happy; we know we are strong and have to put our attention on the Ipswich game now.
"We have to try and do the same away; it is not easy because it is different, but we have to try.
"Now we are more confident we can do it."
He does not go quite as far as saying if West Ham play like that every week they could win the title, but laughs:
"People will say I am crazy if I say this - but we can certainly compete for a better place than we have been in, in the last few weeks."
Although Trevor Sinclair dedicated the win to Glenn Roeder, Paolo says the victory belongs to everyone connected with the club.
"I am very happy," he says, "and when I am, I am happy for everybody, because when I play, I play for the team, not only myself.
"And that includes my manager because when I win, I win with my team mates, with my chairman, with the 30,000 or 40,000 people who support West Ham.
"We know it wasn't his fault, and we are happy because we have given him back his attitude and the performance."
With an extra day to recover before the next match at Ipswich, Paolo reckons he and his team mates can go from strength to strength.
He concludes:
"Now is a good time to train with confidence and a different spirit.
"If we are intelligent, we mustn't switch off, because if we do we will end up back at the bottom of the table.
"But I think we are intelligent."
"Football is a mixture of skilful players, talent, attitude, and sacrifice, and against Chelsea we mixed all those ingredients to get a great result," he enthuses.
"That tells us that if we work hard like that we can be happy at the end of the game, unlike when we came home from Everton and Blackburn.
"Especially in the first 25 minutes we played very fast and very good football, and of course spent a lot of energy.
"We got the two goal advantage but we were under pressure for a lot of the game.
"But we sacrificed ourselves, I went to midfield, and I'm happy even though I didn't play very well in the last half an hour.
"But I gave my best for the squad."
But the important thing now, he insists, is to keep the momentum going, and he adds:
"We have to try to play like that every week; it's not easy but we have to do our best.
"It was three very important points and we are very happy; we know we are strong and have to put our attention on the Ipswich game now.
"We have to try and do the same away; it is not easy because it is different, but we have to try.
"Now we are more confident we can do it."
He does not go quite as far as saying if West Ham play like that every week they could win the title, but laughs:
"People will say I am crazy if I say this - but we can certainly compete for a better place than we have been in, in the last few weeks."
Although Trevor Sinclair dedicated the win to Glenn Roeder, Paolo says the victory belongs to everyone connected with the club.
"I am very happy," he says, "and when I am, I am happy for everybody, because when I play, I play for the team, not only myself.
"And that includes my manager because when I win, I win with my team mates, with my chairman, with the 30,000 or 40,000 people who support West Ham.
"We know it wasn't his fault, and we are happy because we have given him back his attitude and the performance."
With an extra day to recover before the next match at Ipswich, Paolo reckons he and his team mates can go from strength to strength.
He concludes:
"Now is a good time to train with confidence and a different spirit.
"If we are intelligent, we mustn't switch off, because if we do we will end up back at the bottom of the table.
"But I think we are intelligent."