Confidence in Gianfranco Zola's West Ham United squad is high going into Saturday's FA Cup fourth round trip to Hartlepool United.
The Hammers head to Victoria Park unbeaten away from home since 29 October and on a run of five matches without defeat in all competitions. As a result, Zola said his players will travel to County Durham eager to progress through to the last 16 on Saturday. However, the manager insisted West Ham United will not treat their League One opponents lightly.
"The team were playing well when we were losing but something wasn't clicking. The confidence and self belief were still there and now we've got four or five results on the spin and this has given the players even more confidence in their potential and everything is going in the right way. It's down to the work that they do every single day in training and down to the fact they're quality players and using those qualities in the right way."
Hartlepool themselves will also be confident of securing victory in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, having knocked out Premier League Stoke City in the third round and beaten Northampton Town in their last League One fixture. Zola knows his players will face a determined, talented Hartlepool side this weekend.
"They are a good team and try to play football. They have some very interesting players, some quick players and play quite differently from being a League One side. They try to play football and are a good team. We respect them. It will be a hard game but for us the cup is an important achievement so we want to get through this round."
While some managers may choose to field weakened sides in their respective FA Cup ties, the West Ham United boss has revealed that he plans to field a strong line-up this weekend. Having won the competition twice as a player - in 1997 and 2000 - Zola knows exactly how it feels to lift the famous trophy and wants to give his players the best possible chance to do likewise.
"I do respect them [Hartlepool] and I know they're a decent side and we won't put out a weakened team for sure. If they beat us then it's because they played much better than us. We won't under-estimate them, that's for sure. I've never played there but I know it's a good pitch."