Sam Allardyce was in spirited mood as he reflected on the "perfect start" to a big week for West Ham United.
The 1-0 home win against Peterborough United came courtesy of Mark Noble's eleventh-minute penalty but the Hammers always had the edge. It was a second straight victory at home, having waited six months for one, and also back to back clean sheets for a defence that is still gelling together ahead of Tuesday's visit of Ipswich Town and Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace
Having been among the top scorers in the division this season, Allardyce was certainly not worried that the win came by the solitary goal - although he felt the display warranted a better-looking scoreline.
"We're obviously delighted we've got three very valuable points but the only disappointment is the fact that our approach play and opportunities to get more goals failed us today.
"We've had to rely on a penalty to win the game today, so that's the only disappoint for me because everything else went according to plan.
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"We limited the opposition's opportunities to score and then broke off them to use the space to expose them, but we couldn't get any more goals. We always looked comfortable, there were some good moves, there was some good creative play.
"The substitutes made us even better and John Carew looked more like his old self; David Bentley came on as well and gave us a bit more down the right, not that I was disappointed in Carlton Cole or Julien Faubert. But it's nice to know your subs can come up and take things a little higher again."
Cole has been suffering with flu in the past few days but was determined to play, having been in electric form this season. Carew's presence suggested a bigger involvement for Ipswich's arrival while Sam Baldock is also itching to make his Boleyn bow and Jack Collison is eager to make the matchday 16.
The manager said: "Carlton has been fabulous but had a cold and he wasn't going to last for us today. We wanted to start with him but John came in and allowed us to play balls off him.
"He's even bigger and stronger than Carlton, isn't he? His hold-up play was good and then other people can run off him. Yeah, I'm satisfied. I'm delighted with the three points, delighted with the clean sheet and not so happy about our finishing.
"For me, it's about assessing what team to play because we've got Matt Taylor with a slight calf problem and Joey O'Brien with a little bit of a tight hamstring.
"Other than that I don't see any problems, but there are other members of the squad who weren't even on the bench today who are desperate to get into the frame so we'll look at that situation and see whether we can make one or two changes for Tuesday night."
The big success for the manager was ending a run of late goals conceded at Upton Park, which has been a story of the campaign even with the Hammers on a roll and riding high.
"There were no jittery nerves at the end, we saw the game out, although I can feel them reverberating around Upton Park, I could feel it myself. But like I say, it was an important three points and lifts us up to fourth. We've got a big three-game week and we've got three points which will boost the confidence ahead of the game against Ipswich on Tuesday."
Further confidence has been given by the outstanding impact of Abdoulaye Faye at the back. The defender came in for his first home start, having been imperious away at Millwall last weekend. The manager said he would be the ideal man to help bring on Winston Reid and the rested James Tomkins this season.
"He's a man mountain; this guy is the coolest dude you've ever met in your life. You see him lumbering along but he always wins his headers, is in the right position to nullify the opposition's attacks and, in terms of providing a calming influence, he's gained very good experience since he was lucky enough that I brought him to the Premier League many years ago, so he's got a lot to thank me for! Which I keep reminding him about."