As he prepares to face Birmingham City at the weekend, he stresses: "People put too much emphasis on luck. What is going to get us winning games is maintaining performances and the performance against Newcastle on the first day of the season was our worst by far.
"The other games may have seen inconsistent shooting or whatever, but we played well, or have done enough to say we haven't been playing badly.
"That is what we did against Chelsea last week - and there was nothing lucky about it."
He is hoping to recapture the mood of last weekend when the first win of the season was achieved, and he adds: "I know it sounds silly but the release after the Chelsea game was as if we had won the cup. As I say, we must maintain performance levels - and it is within our own hands."
He insists, despite the hype surrounding him, that thoughts of getting in the next England side - when it gets competitive again - are not uppermost in his mind right now.
"I'm not bothered at the moment, I am just concerned with our next game - when the squad is announced and we meet up we will take it from there," he says.
"But the only way I am going to influence anything is by the next game and if I get the England shirt, I do, and if I don't, I don't.
"It is a little bit more than a toss up and my performances between the last England game and the next one will determine whether I start - and I will leave that to someone else."
Although that might be interpreted to meaning that he must keep a clean sheet against Steve Bruce's men at the weekend, his philosophy is in fact that it is better to have a good game and win than keep a clean sheet and not pick up all three points as happened against Manchester City the last time West Ham played at home.
"I would gladly have sacrificed a clean sheet for victory last week, which is what we got at Chelsea - and it was superb," he says.
One of the goals was of course from a spot kick, and he adds: "I don't know what happened with the penalty decision but it was two dead balls, while we created three goals.
"Paolo's at the other end was a little bit special though and the performance was exactly what we needed.
"There is no way any of their players can say anything other than that we deserved to win. We bossed the game from the first minute and created a corner after 30 seconds.
"In the second half we gained possession after 30 seconds and that was the tone of the game - and we weren't put off by the goals they scored."