Michail Antonio says the self-belief of the West Ham United squad never wavered ahead of Saturday’s battling win at Crystal Palace.
The Hammers were on a run of five Premier League games without victory, but ended that sequence thanks to Manuel Lanzini’s fine early goal and a penalty miss from Palace’s Christian Benteke in first half stoppage time.
Slaven Bilic’s men then had to overcome a harsh red card for Aaron Cresswell with 15 minutes remaining but they passed the test – much to Antonio’s delight.
He explained: “We knew it [the win] was coming – we just needed to make sure we gelled together and kept a clean sheet because we always believe we will score goals.
“It’s nice to get that clean sheet and a win, so onwards and upwards.
“We managed to keep the lead even though we had ten men for the last 15 minutes. The boys are buzzing and can’t wait for the next game.”
The Hammers lined up in an unfamiliar three at the back formation, with Antonio operating as a wing-back – but the former Nottingham Forest man was happy to put in a shift for his teammates.
He added: “We lost one or two of our defensive players before this match, so I had to do a job [there] for the team and I will do that.
“It’s a challenge going up for headers with Benteke – he’s a big, strong lad and you can see he’s quality with his head.
“I’m decent with my head too, so I just had to go and see what I could do.”
Antonio spent the previous week-and-a-half away with the England squad, and although he did not make Gareth Southgate’s selection for the meetings with Malta and Slovenia, he is determined to give himself another crack.
He added: “It was a decent time with the England team. It’s always good experience and always good to go there and train with the elite [England] players.
“Hopefully I can keep doing it and keep getting into the squad.”