Gianfranco Zola was in an upbeat mood ahead of Sunday's big London derby with Tottenham Hotspur.
An impressive 2-0 opening day win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, combined with several key players making returns from the treatment table have left spirits in the camp high. Zola further endorsed that mood by revealing he has a virtually fully-fit squad to choose from for the visit of Harry Redknapp's north Londoners after James Tomkins' recovery from a minor foot injury and Fabio Daprela and Radoslav Kovac available for selection.
Indeed, that opening day win could not have gone any better for Zola's side. With two goals scored and a clean sheet to boot, the West Ham United manager would also have been pleased to see Kieron Dyer and Scott Parker back in the starting lineup and Danny Gabbidon named in a Premier League 18 for the first time in 18 months.
"It was a very mature performance [against Wolves], " Zola said. I"t was a tricky game, it was the first game of the season in front of their crowd and they had just been promoted so we had to be very careful. But the maturity of the team and the organisation was excellent. What I enjoyed the most was that we scored two goals and we could have scored at least two more so that was encouraging. We said we need to work on scoring more goals in the last 20 metres and it was encouraging."
The only slight blotch on the copy book was the facial injury to Ilunga, which was later confirmed as a fractured cheekbone and will rule the DR Congo international out of Sunday's encounter. His absence could free up room in the back four for Jonathan Spector or Daprela, although it is thought the former would be the more likely to start.
"My back four did an excellent job the other day and I am not concerned about my back four, I'm sure they will be all right."
Despite his confidence in his defensive unit, Zola knows his side must remain focused for the full 90 minutes on Sunday, with the dangers posed by the current table-toppers Tottenham only too clear after seven goals in their first two games.
"The concern is that when you are playing against a team that has a lot of quality you know that you can work hard for a long time and then in a second they can produce some quality necessary to score a goal.
"It is a game where we will need to raise our attention and step up our game. They are a wonderful team and don't forget that Tottenham are as good as the top four and they will be competing with them until the end of the season. They have spent £60m enforcing the team and they have done a wonderful job."
Further good news for Zola is that Switzerland international Valon Behrami could be back in full training next week, while former Tottenham forward Terry Dixon has started training with the reserves this week.
After once again re-affirming the club's commitment to bringing in a new striker, Zola pointedly highlighted how his focus at present is only emerging victorious from Sunday's game.
"We know that we are looking for a couple of strikers. But that is it. I would rather focus on the game on Sunday as there has been too much talking about this.
"So for two days at least, I know I am going to go into this game with the team I've got so let me focus on this. Now it is important to focus on the game we have on Sunday."