Jack Collison emerged smiling from a happy West Ham United dressing room at Portsmouth with thoughts already turning to Sunday.
The 20-year-old midfielder has won the trust of Gianfranco Zola who has given him an extended run in his midfield. With a goal and an assist in the 4-1 win at Fratton Park, Collison is more than justifying that faith. "It was a massive boost to win,"he said. "Especially as we had played so well against Aston Villa last weekend but still lost the game."
Next up is Stoke City and Collison knows another success could push the team into tenth spot. "It's two games in three days and if you can get six points, then it can really push you up the table," he added. "All we are thinking of now is getting another three points on Sunday and putting in another good performance."
At Fratton Park, the young midfielder put in a particularly mature performance and got the deserved reward for his display. He scored the goal that drew West Ham level after the hosts had gone ahead and paved the way for another from Carlton Cole and two from Craig Bellamy.
Collison felt it was a result that West Ham United had been threatening for a while and even though they had to come from behind and rely on a Robert Green-inspired missed penalty by Jermain Defoe to get the points, there was never any doubt in the belief that the game could be won .
"It was a great win and another good team performance from everyone. I think this sort of result has been coming for a while, the way we have been playing and with the high confidence we have here in the camp.
"We went 1-0 down, no heads were down, then we got back at 1-1, Greeny made a couple of great saves. We went in at half-time with the match level, but feeling we could win the game. We knew it was just a case of sticking the ball in the back of the net and we managed that another three times in that half."
For Collison, his goal was his second of the campaign and he was happy to see the ball roll into the net. "It was a bit lucky, I think it went through Bellars' and David James' legs. But as long as it goes in the back of the net, then that is all that matters.
"I was unfortunate with another chance later on, but Coley was there in the box to put it away and we were all delighted for him. I think that goal will be great for his confidence and that there is no doubt he can go on and score many goals for us this season."
He also had praise for his fellow Welsh international team-mate Bellamy. "I thought Bellars was outstanding, his all-round play. He was running down the channels all day and even near the end of match, he was still running and fully deserved his two goals."