Felipe Anderson hailed the West Ham United supporters after a club record crowd of 59,946 roared them to victory against Arsenal on Saturday.
Declan Rice scored the only goal of the game early in the second half of the derby clash, breaking his goalscoring duck for the club and giving the team a memorable three-point haul.
Having now defeated both Manchester United and the Gunners at home this term, the West Ham No8 is delighted with the progress the team is making.
Watch highlights of Saturday's win here
He said: "The team merited the victory on Saturday. We started very strong, and were very concentrated in the game.
"We created some chances, and it was very important to win because we were at home against a great rival, in front of our fans that always support us. It was one of those games, that are important, that mean more and the result gives us the confidence to keep on growing in the league.
"To have so many fans was very important because we know how much they love us and that inspires us, because we feel it on the pitch and it is also an ingredient in our victories, they are always with us."
On Rice, Felipe Anderson said he couldn't think of a more deserving match winner.
He added: "I’m very happy for Declan because he’s a guy who is extremely unselfish, he plays more for his teammates than for himself, he’s always running, always fighting, and today he scored a beautiful goal that gave us a very important victory so I’m very happy for him and I hope it happens more often."