James Collins believes West Ham United are better equipped this season to maintain their exceptional Barclays Premier League start.
Saturday’s 2-1 win over champions Chelsea leaves West Ham sitting pretty in third with 20 points, a record Premier League points haul for the Hammers after ten outings.
And while Collins and co are keeping their feet firmly on the ground, the Wales centre-half insists the squad’s strength in depth is reason enough to feel that Slaven Bilic’s side can stay the course this time.
He told whufc.com: “We have got the squad to do it. That’s the major thing. We’ve got competition for places in every position.
“We struggled with a couple of injuries last year, which knocked us off track. But the squad this year has been improved so much that if we’re there, or there abouts, around Christmas, there’s no reason why we can’t sustain that and finish there.
“Last year, a lot of the lads, me included, hadn’t been in that position before. The expectation was so high. No disrespect, but in years gone by we’d been looking the other way.
“But we’ve signed top-quality international footballers, who are used to playing under this sort of pressure that you get at Upton Park.”
Saturday’s three points came courtesy of big Andy Carroll’s towering header, his first goal since January. The No9’s late winner was the culmination of months and months of toil on and off the training pitch, and Collins says the big man is every defender’s worst nightmare.
“Any team in the Premier League would be delighted to have Andy Carroll on the bench,” he added. “He’s still a young lad but his dedication to getting fit and staying strong has been unbelievable.
“He’s been spot on in training, he's worked hard and we’re reaping the rewards of his hard work. He came on and he was fantastic again.
“If I was on the defending team and Andy Carroll was coming on, I wouldn’t be too happy about it because you know what’s going to happen. He’s big and he’s strong.
“If you play the right ball to him I think he’s unplayable at what he does. He’s so good in the air that sometimes it’s impossible to get the ball off him. I see it in training, so for him to score the winner in such a big game, I'm delighted for him.”
Unbeaten in seven league outings, with five wins and two draws, the Hammers are on the crest of a wave and the 32-year-old insists the feel-good factor is as good as it has ever been in his time at the Club.
He continued: “We’re flying at the minute. The away win at Palace last week was a good building block for us. We took a lot of confidence from it and obviously knew it was going to be tough on Saturday, but I thought we were fantastic again.
“Confidence is massive at the Club at the moment. Training's bang on, the banter in the dressing room is the best I’ve known it. We look forward to training every day and we’re on fire at the minute.”