Nolberto Solano is expecting West Ham United to keep on pushing up the Barclays Premier League table after a match-winning performance at Fulham.
The Peruvian international is working his way back to full fitness after picking up a hamstring injury on 29 December in the 2-1 home win against Manchester United. With Saturday's game at Craven Cottage seemingly destined to finish goalless, Solano came off the bench for Julien Faubert just after the hour mark and promptly added his inventive play and precise passing to the Hammers attack.
His hunger was underlined by the way he ghosted beyond Danny Murphy in the 87th minute to latch on to Luis Boa Morte's chested pass. As Antti Niemi came out to claim the ball, Solano got there just before the Finnish goalkeeper to hook the ball goalwards. It then ricocheted off Niemi, hit Solano on the elbow and then trickled over the line. For Solano, there was no controversy despite Fulham protests that he had kicked the ball out of Niemi's hands and then used his elbow illegally.
"It was 50-50," Solano told WHUTV. "I tried to win the ball and the keeper came out to me. The bounce came back to me and hit my elbow and went in, but it wasn't intentional. We got the luck there. The most important thing was to take three points. We didn't play a great game but we knew before we came here it would be very tough. We nicked three points and that was very important for us as we are trying to qualify for the European places."
That continental qualification ambition will be put to the test with the next three games in the space of seven days. A busy schedule starts with Chelsea at home on Saturday before the trips to Liverpool and Tottenham on the following Wednesday and Sunday respectively. Solano added: "It is still on and hopefully we can get another result against Chelsea. We will try to win."
The experienced 33-year-old, who now has three goals from 13 games this season, is eager to play a full role in those three games and for the rest of the campaign. "I am feeling fit. I am better. It is important that I can play and help the team to win. We are looking to keep pushing up the table. It will be very tough in the next three games but hopefully we can do it."