Having had time to reflect on the significance of the victory over the Gills following the loss south of the river the weekend before, he admits:
"There was a lot of tension around the place; it was a difficult atmosphere for the players to play in and I felt we coped with it admirably to get a result on Saturday.
"In the last eight to 10 games we have really had one bad performance, in my view; even Sunderland was touch and go.
"If we had scored the first goal, we could have won there - so you have to put that into context a little bit.
"But we are back in there; hopefully the fans will go to Reading and we can back that win up."
Regarding the initial booing of Christian Dailly, which turned to applause as the game wore on, Alan says:
"It was a tough day for Christian and we can not pretend it didn't happen - but he handled it impeccably, he didn't react to the crowd, and to put in as good a performance as he did means he can look back on that day and say he had to call on a depth of character.
"He dealt with it, and you can't ask more than that.
"Not everybody is blessed with awesome talent like Paolo Di Canio and sometimes players have to dig deep to produce their best stuff.
"We know Christian has played better than he did at Millwall, and he knows that, but he has responded in the right manner.
"Real fans know it was not the right thing to do and it won't help - it never helps.
"I thought we had got past that, but we have only got ourselves to blame - but we took it on the chin and we are in the next 'round.'
"The fans' frustration will come out though if anyone thinks we had an easy week last week just kicking balls and messing about they are very much mistaken.
"I made sure it was a tough week; we worked very hard and we studied the video extensively - and I think that was reflected in the Gillingham performance.
"We put in a display that we can be proud of; we opened our door to criticism and we had to react to that.
"I thought in a tense atmosphere our fans turned up in numbers again; they were on edge because we had let them down the week before and we expected that.
"It was important that we did the job and there is nothing worse than when someone puts a question mark against your character.
"We had a terrible week last week, not just the players and the management, but everyone that works for West Ham.
"We have had to endure ridicule after the performance at Millwall and the fans have had to put up with that.
"I think we have restored a little bit of belief between each other and answered some questions on Saturday.
"But we haven't answered them fully because there are seven games to go."
Alan says the win over Gillingham was hard-earned and adds:
"Make no mistake, they were a very good side at times and their front two are a real handful; sometimes we struggled to control them but they have that quality to embarrass any centre half, especially Patrick Agyemang.
"The win doesn't make up for Millwall but we could have had two decent performances in the last two games and drawn them, and sometimes it is more important you get those extra points.
"There is a dignity to winning as there is to losing and we showed a dignity in winning over Gillingham whereas there wasn't much dignity shown the week before.
"The targets we set in terms of 30 plus crosses, 12 shots on target - we reached those on Saturday.
"That usually accounts for two or three goals and I think we had chances to increase our lead before they scored.
"Once they had done that with the type of goal it was, it produced some frustration and criticism from the crowd and we had to play with that."
As well as being pleased with Christian, Alan was also impressed with Tomas Repka's response and he adds:
"With Tomas Repka, who I criticised publicly last week - which is not something I like doing - I wanted to make the final point to him that he cannot lose his mentality between now and the end of the season.
"I wanted to make the point publicly and I thought his discipline was first class.
"He got crunched in the first five minutes and didn't react; he kept his focus on what his job was and I was proud of him."
Alan was pleased that his side scored from a corner to get things going against Gillingam, and he explains:
"We scored from a set play and we have to move teams around because we are not a great big side like some in this division.
"So we have had to work hard at them and have plenty of movement.
"We do need perhaps to be better at winning set plays, and winning that second ball that is bobbling around in midfield - and we are working on it."
Another player Alan picks out is Adam Nowland, who replaced David Connolly on Saturday in the second half.
"He played absolutely brilliantly in the reserves last Tuesday and has got that self-belief that is strong," says Alan.
"He is pushing for a first team start next week.
"I keep saying to the players that it is going to be a squad that gets us promoted, not a team."
Brian Deane came on at the same time as Adam, for Nigel Reo-Coker, and Alan says:
"Two players came on that affected the game."
Alan is not happy with the way West Ham's fans were portrayed at the New Den, and he adds:
"We must have had about 20 people who lost their heads at Millwall, and all our fans were tarnished with that brush - but the fans here are absolutely brilliant to us.
"I thought some of the reporting about our supporters was a disgrace; I genuinely feel that we would never protect or condone what happened - but I don't think it was as big an incident as was made out, and we have to stick together.
"We have to do it as a team, as management, and our fans will stick with us because we all need to pull together."
Looking ahead to Reading on Saturday, he admits:
"It is not going to be a comfortable afternoon for me personally - but the focus is on the team.
"I hope that we put in a performance away from home that we have not been doing in the last two, and if we manage that then we will get a result - which could be very important.
"We have to win some of those away games; we are paid to win at this club, and we are under no illusions about that.
"The last two away games have not been as good as they should have been, but we have shown glimpses of it at home.
"People always start to focus on the negative that is happening to the team, but the positive is that we have done well at home recently - and we have to continue that to the end as well."
As for the promotion race overall, he adds:
"It is out of our hands to some extent; we could win all our games and still not make it.
"We just have to focus on us and try and win as many games as we can between now and the end and see where that takes us.
"It is a frustrating week with two of the back four on international duty and Nigel is away as well so it is tough to do things as a team.
"We are just waiting to make sure they come back okay to join the rest of the guys here.
"It could be that we have as many available this week as we have had all season; Hutch and Lomy should play in the reserves Wednesday, which then gives them a chance for Saturday, and Hayden will probably be involved as well."
David Connolly has been pulled out of the Eire squad but Alan says it is nothing major.
"It is a precaution and we wanted to do what was best for him," he explains.
Meanwhile, Alan is taking a look at two trialists in the form of Kenwyne Jones from Trinidad and Tobago, and Liverpool striker Steven Gillespie.
Gillespie has scored 21 goals this season for the U19s and the reserves - making him the 'top' scorer at Anfield.
The 19 year old defender, who can also play in attack, has had trials with Manchester United and Middlesbrough as well as stints in Holland and Scotland.
But, regarding stories that Andy Todd at Blackburn and Dean Marney at Spurs were deadline week targets, Alan says:
"There has been no contact with Graeme Souness or David Pleat regarding those two."