Steve Clarke spoke of the commitment in the camp after West Ham United's professional display earned them a 3-0 victory against Barnsley and progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Herita Ilunga, a Mark Noble penalty and Carlton Cole's third in three games helped the Hammers to a comfortable win and ensured they go into the hat for Sunday's draw - full details of which will be appearing on whufc.com as soon as it is made. With Gianfranco Zola heading off straight after the match because of private commitments, it was first-team coach Clarke who spoke of the squad's satisfaction.
Clarke was keen to emphasise that both he and the manager are giving the competition the respect it deserves in a bid to push the club as far as possible this season. He said: "It's probably the premier cup competition in the world in my opinion and we take it very seriously. I've had some great days in the FA Cup been lucky enough to win it both as a player and a coach.
"I'm not really sure which teams don't take it serious but we do. I'm delighted with the result, you can never tell with my expression but I am delighted. We've got one more FA Cup game in January and hopefully we will get a nice draw, put out a strong team and then progress in this competition."
Clarke was also pleased to see his players share his view, dominating from start to finish against Championship opponents who had reached last year's semi-finals with notable scalps along the way. "I thought we started well we and got in front but got a bit casual and let Barnsley back into it. But when we got the second goal it was always a reasonably comfortable afternoon."
Ilunga's goal was particularly special as it was his first for the club and the assistant manager was pleased to finally see him get off the mark. "It was good. We work hard on our set plays and it's nice when it pays off. He's had a couple of chances this year and he's missed him so it's good he got that one."
Clarke also revealed that Matthew Upson - one of four enforced changes to the United starting XI - had been ill this week. "He hasn't trained all week. He's been ill in bed with the flu. The first time I've seen him since the last game was today. He's not the only one at the club that's had it either."
Upson's absence allowed James Tomkins to make it three homegrown Hammers on the pitch, along with Noble, back in for the suspended Scott Parker, and Jack Collison and the young defender did well on his return from a loan at Derby County. Also missing were Lucas Neill and Valon Behrami - the former still suffering from his ankle complaint and the latter rested with a slight muscle problem.
With all at the club thinking only of improving the squad and building on recent form, Clarke was direct when questioned if there were any distractions caused by the transfer window being open. "I think you see from the performance they are all committed. We can talk about speculation in the transfer window all day but it's only speculation. [The media] feed it and love it but we just focus on the next game."