- Boss hails impact of Manuel Lanzini in recent run of Hammers form
- Argentine creator has two goals and two assists in 2017
- West Ham will look for their second win against Chelsea this season next time out
Slaven Bilic believes Manuel Lanzini can continue in his rich vein of form and help the Hammers establish their position in the Premier League's top half over the closing months of the season.
Since the turn of the year, the Argentine has scored twice and laid on two more goals as West Ham have risen up to ninth in the table with a run of eleven points from their last six matches.
The boss believes Lanzini has been key to that - and having overcome his early-season injury problems he says there is yet more to come from him.
He said: "Lanzini is a very young player, and is a top class player. He likes to take the responsibility and he came from a big club - not the one in Dubai but River Plate in Buenos Aires.
"When he was 19 or 20, they gave him the No10 shirt and they don't give it [lightly] - it's a very heavy jersey.
"He got it for himself and don't forget this season he was supposed to go to the Olympics with Argentina, but he had a very bad knee injury and he was disappointed not to go.
"He missed the whole pre-season with us, and came back a little bit too soon. We pushed him in because we needed him, but now he is playing fantastically."
Following Saturday's 1-1 draw at Watford, the Hammers have to wait until next Monday for their next assignment, when table-topping Chelsea come to London Stadium.
Bilic is well aware of the threat they possess, but has the memory of October's victory over the Blues in the EFL Cup to call upon.
"That was a really great game, we played really good," he smiled. "They didn't start with their best team, let's say, but in the second half they put everybody in and we deserved it.
"Hopefully we are going to do the same. They are doing fantastic, they are winning and they are everything. They are solid and up front they have that unbelievable pace, strength and quality that is hard to stop.
"But we are a good team now, and we have been really good for a period of seven or eight games. We are good physically, we are good mentally, we are good on the ball, we are good in transition, and that is why there is always belief."