Gianfranco Zola is looking forward to two successive home games after a deserved away point was achieved in the 1-1 weekend draw against Middlesbrough.
The matches to come against Everton and Portsmouth at the Boleyn Ground on successive Saturdays will conclude two months in charge for the new manager and he is still relishing every minute of the job. "It is hard but I'm enjoying it because I've got a great group of players and my staff are fantastic," he said. Just two points separate West Ham United and seventh-placed Everton - this weekend's visitors - making it a key chance to push on up the Barclays Premier League table.
The way his team performed at the Riverside also gave Zola plenty of encouragement, not least in their willingness to keep playing football and take the game to their hosts. "It's very, very encouraging for me because it means they are there, they are confident and believe in themselves and that is such a valuable thing.
"It could be a huge point [against Middlesbrough] because it was a difficult game after four defeats, playing away against a team that has won their last game and drew the previous one. It was a testing match for us and I'm pleased with the way we played. When you play away in the Premier League it's always tough and we were playing against a team with a lot of confidence. We played really, really well."
Zola has been able to see more of his squad in the past couple of games and is learning about the depth of young talent at his disposal. While the Academy side were winning 6-1 on Saturday, the likes of James Tomkins, Jack Collison and Freddie Sears were all firmly in his thoughts, with Collison and Sears getting a chance to shine by being named in the starting eleven.
Their emergence, and the presence of Diego Tristan, will give Zola much to think about but he is not worried about difficult decisions - even if the job is more demanding than his days lighting up the Premier League as a player. "It is more tiring to be on the bench than to be on the pitch," he said with a smile. "I'm picking up things all the time and getting better and better in many aspects of the job."