'Full marks to everybody'

Sam Allardyce hailed West Ham United's outstanding resilience for the second time in four days after the Hammers secured a 2-0 home Barclays Premier League win over Swansea City.

The Hammers overcame the loss of Andy Carroll to a second half red card to chalk up their first win at the Boleyn Ground since 30 November.

Two first-half goals from Kevin Nolan - both assisted by Carroll headers - put West Ham in control before a magnificent rearguard action ensured a victory to follow the midweek goalless draw at Chelsea.

"That was another example of that sort of resilience, which we also showed at Chelsea and at Cardiff, when we also went down to ten men but managed to turn a 1-0 advantage into a 2-0 win," said the manager.

"As disappointed as I was about Andy being sent-off, it was a magnificent effort by the players to continue on to the end of the game and not allow Swansea City to produce a single shot on target.

"It was pretty miraculous, having to defend with ten men in the Barclays Premier League for so long, so full marks to everybody. The fans will have gone home very happy and feeling slightly less tension after a 2-0 win."

Both goals came courtesy of the old Nolan/Carroll double-act. The first, on 26 minutes saw Carroll nod down George McCartney's diagonal cross for the captain, who controlled before shooting accurately into the bottom corner.

The second came after Carroll had battled to win a corner on the stroke of half-time. The striker then craned his neck to nod back across goal for Nolan to stretch and head down into the corner - West Ham's first headed goal of the season.

The half-time delight turned to exasperation just after the hour-mark, when Carroll was involved in a challenge with Chico Flores which ended with the Spaniard on the floor. Referee Howard Webb produced the red card, but BIg Sam said the Club would definitely be appealing the decision and looking to have Carroll's three-match ban rescinded.

"Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll combined for two goals, with Kevin's quality finish coming to the fore. It was great to have them back together and the big thing now is, can we keep them together after that unfortunate incident with Andy getting a red card?

"I don't think it's a red card, it's as simple as that. We don't want Andy to be suspended for three games now, having not had him for so long. He's getting fitter and fitter and it would knock us all back if we lost him on such a trivial incident, as far as I'm concerned.

"We will be appealing the red card."

While the red card left a sour taste in the mouth for Big Sam, the manager certainly enjoyed the taste of Nolan's two pinpoint finishes.

"The header was behind Kevin and he had to get behind the ball and guide it down into the corner, when most players wouldn't have been able to get it on target. He also popped up with a left-foot volley into the bottom corner.

"I have been talking to Andy and Mo Diame a lot about their recent misses, because they want to blast them. They want to get so much force behind them that they lose their accuracy. Kevin places them into the net and he is accurate. He takes a bit of pace out of it and it makes it a much more accurate finish then the ones Andy and Mo sometimes try to do."

Having picked up two wins and a draw in their last four league matches, the manager said West Ham will now travel to Aston Villa full of confidence next weekend. There, a victory could really give his side the impetus to end the season strongly.

"If we go across the last four games, that's seven points, which is as good as we've achieved all season. Hopefully, that will extend into an undefeated run. We now have a full week to recover from a horrendous programme of playing, travelling and recovering and injuries and suspensions and the transfer window.

"We've now got the league to concentrate on and we've got the games to focus on one by one and make sure we've got points on the board when we finish those games."

In closing, the manager summed up a breathless transfer window that saw the Club sign seven players, release one and allow a number to leave on loan.

"January was horrendous, and that's an understatement. It always is for everybody. We had injury problems and had to find new players which was very difficult. If you look across the board, every club suffered the same problems we did with continuous knockbacks from players.

"In the end, we've achieved as much as we possibly could have achieved through damn hard work behind the scenes - particularly David Sullivan, Karren Brady and my head of recruitment Martyn Glover. They all did what they could with every deal trying to get a positive result. In the end, we did and hopefully those players will make a big difference as well."

West Ham's final signing of the transfer window was clinched on Friday, when Colombia left-back Pablo Armero joined on loan from Italian side Napoli. Big Sam believes the Hammers could have a gem on their hands.

"If you watched Arsenal lose 2-0 away at Napoli in the Champions League, you'll have seen an all-action player who is at a very good age and obviously wants to come and try his hand in the Premier League. Hopefully he'll be an exciting addition to us, especially after Joey's injury, which could extend into an operation.

"He's going to be needed in the near future and hopefully he can hit the ground running."