Dicks - The result is always more important

Coaching assistant Julian Dicks says the win and three points were all that mattered to West Ham United in beating Sunderland
Julian Dicks says the result was all that mattered as West Ham United scored a 1-0 Barclays Premier League win over Sunderland.

Michail Antonio’s first-half goal was all that separated the sides as the Hammers climbed back into the top six, extending their unbeaten home run to 13 matches in all competitions.

The three points also took West Ham onto 43 – their best-ever haul after 27 league matches since the inception of the Premier League in 1992.

“The result is always more important than the performance and today was a good case because we were poor,” said Dicks, with typical honesty. “The whole atmosphere seemed really low but all that mattered was the three points.

“These things happen. I’ve played in many games in which we’ve been poor and we’ve won and others when we’ve been absolutely fantastic and we’ve lost, so that’s just football.

“Again, you can’t put your finger on it. It wasn’t the best of games from our point of view, while I thought Sunderland played well and deserved a point at least, but we’re happy with the three points.”

Dicks also revealed that Antonio’s solo match-winner was down to some extra work the No30 did in training in the lead-up to Saturday’s clash with the Black Cats.

“To be fair, on Thursday in training he was out there on his own and I went up and asked ‘What are you doing?’ and he said ‘I’m cutting in from the right and shooting with my left foot’ and the first couple in training went 200 yards wide, but he did it today!

“He works hard and he has come on leaps and bounds so I’m happy for him.”

Dicks says the Hammers will have to improve their performance level when they host Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday evening – when they will try to build on the Club’s record-breaking season.

“Of course we can stay in the top six but we have to work hard in every game,” he continued. “We’ve got Tottenham on Wednesday which is a massive game because Tottenham are a good side and we can’t afford to play like that – we have to be on our game against them.

“Every game is tough, whether it’s home or away and the players have to perform. There’s no reason why we can’t stay where we are.

“They’re a great bunch of lads with great team spirit and there is a good vibe around the place.”
Talking of Spurs, there are many YouTube clips of Dicks bursting the net against Tottenham in the 1990s, and Dicks knows how much the London derby means to everyone in Claret and Blue.

“Listen, I know how much this game means to the fans and to the players as well,” he concluded. “It’s Wednesday under the lights and it’s going to be an absolutely fantastic atmosphere.

“It’s about the players going out there and performing. We have to start quicker as Tottenham are a good side. They press quite high so we’ll have to be on our game.”