'We're not afraid of anyone'

Mark Noble says West Ham United have nothing to fear from an in-form Manchester United.

While the Red Devils have lost just once since early November, the Hammers have enjoyed some fantastic results on home turf this season and go into Sunday's game sitting eighth in the Barclays Premier League.

Having already beaten last season's champions and runners-up, Noble insists West Ham can complete a Boleyn Ground hat-trick of victories by defeating Louis van Gaal's side.

"It's a different kettle of fish when it's at our place," said Noble. "Man United have probably flown a little bit under the radar with the results they've been having, as they just seem to keep nicking wins and I expect them to be up there at the end of the season.

"But our place is a bit of a fortress now and everyone is looking forward to it. Look at the teams we've beaten at home already - Man City and Liverpool - and we gave Arsenal a really good go.

"We're not afraid of any of the big teams and we know if we play to how we can play, we have every chance of winning the game on Sunday. It's a long way away from last season when we went into these games in the bottom three and a little bit worried about what the score was going to be.

"We can enjoy these games now with the points we've got and try and go for the three points. Man to man it's not much of a gulf these days compared to a couple of years ago.

"Hopefully we'll get our players back out on the pitch and ready to go and we can go out and give them a proper go. If we get them out there then we've beat a lot of big teams at our place and there is no reason we can't do Man U as well."

One player who will be important to the Hammers' hopes on Sunday is Aaron Cresswelll, the left-back who has impressed so much since his summer switch from Ipswich Town. Noble is in no doubt that the No3 - an ever-present this term - has been one of West Ham's standout performers all season long.

"Do you know what, he is one of the best signings I've seen come to the Club since I've been here," the midfielder purred. "A lot of clubs delve into the foreign market and don't dip into the Championship any more, but we've signed a fantastic player in Cress.

"Not only is he a good player but he's great around the squad. He's a great lad and when you get someone like that who comes in and plays so well, you're really happy for them.

"When he first came, he was a little bit quiet but he has settled down now. Our dressing room has got a lot of good characters who welcome players and help them to settle in and that spirit helped us to stay up last year.

"A lesser team probably would have been relegated, but because we've got such a strong squad and a good bunch of boys we stayed up. We've brought the new boys into the fold I'm sure if you spoke to Cress he'd tell you he is thoroughly enjoying it."