First goal delights Jarvis

Matt Jarvis was delighted to find himself on the score sheet on Saturday after he scored the Hammers' first goal during a 3-1 win against Southampton at the Boleyn Ground.

The winger had spoken about his desire to score more goals in the Official Programme ahead of the Saints visit, and the wideman was true to his word when he raced onto Kevin Nolan's through ball to cancel out Maya Yoshida's opener.

Jarvis' brave finish was followed up by Carlton Cole three minutes later, when the striker thumped home a half-volley. Nolan went onto secure the Hammers' fourth consecutive Barclays Premier League victory with an acrobatic effort in the second half, and Jarvis was delighted to have played his role in earning three more points.

He told West Ham TV: "I'm delighted with the win. It carries on our run in this fantastic streak we're in, against a good Southampton team. It was a fantastic win and I was delighted to get on the score sheet myself.

"It was my first goal in the Premier League this season so hopefully I can get a few more now. Hopefully I can carry it on.

"It's something I needed to start doing more often. Creating the opportunities is part of my job but scoring goals and helping the team that way is a massive area in which I need to contribute and hopefully I can start doing that now."

Jarvis and his teammates last tasted league defeat against Newcastle United on 18 January, going down to a 3-1 loss in east London.

Since then, Sam Allardyce has overseen five league matches unbeaten and Jarvis pinpointed the battling 0-0 draw against Chelsea as the game which helped turn the team's form around.

"I think that game (Chelsea) showed the togetherness that the squad has, we really had to dig in and everyone worked extremely hard for each other. It was a fantastic result considering the team they are and it really did start this run.

"After the game everyone was in very good spirits considering the way we played the game. It's a tough place to go and we defended extremely well. Once we got that result, we looked at the next few games and thought 'Right, we really need to start pushing on' and I'm so pleased that we have.

"We've shown over the last few weeks what a great team we've got. Everyone's working extremely hard for each other and we've got to keep winning."

The 27-year-old also reserved praise for captain Nolan, who has bounced back from two red cards in the space of a month to net five goals in his last four appearances and Jarvis believes his response is testament to his character.

"It shows what a character he is and how much of a leader he is within the group. The last few weeks his goals have been sensational for us and really kicked us up the table.

"It was a great ball through from him for the goal and then he produced a fantastic finish. He's very mentally strong, he got on with it and picked himself up but with the team we've got everyone got round him and it shows what a great team spirit we have."