Character got West Ham United over the line in a 1-0 win at Fulham on Saturday, according to Declan Rice.
West Ham took the lead thanks to a Harrison Reed own-goal in the first half but had to show plenty of fight as a second clean sheet of the week secured the points at Craven Cottage.
David Moyes’ men made over 60 clearances and blocked eleven shots, as a dogged defensive showing, one that epitomised the personality this Club has shown in recent seasons, got the Irons over the line.
Even when the defence was breached, Łukasz Fabiański was there to make a vital diving intervention to stop Andreas Pereira eight minutes from full-time.
It was not pretty, but Rice was delighted to celebrate the Easter weekend with a crucial three points that took the Irons up to 13th in the Premier League table.
I think today was so important that we bounced back.
Not only for us as players and the manager, but we wanted to do it for the fans today, because on Wednesday night it felt like we let the Club down. Getting beaten 5-1 at home wasn’t good enough. But today we showed the desire and heart to bounce back.
We didn’t play our best – that’s being honest – but the main thing is three points and to get that for the travelling fans, you could see at the end the smile on my face.
The fans deserve that 100 per cent.
They’re the best, I’ve always said it. Obviously, when things get tough they voice their opinions and you’ve got to take it on the chin, but on the other hand for me, when they’re at it they’re the best in the world.
I love playing in front of them, they cheer your name, they cheer the team, special nights like we had last year, special away days like we had today. It’s a Saturday afternoon, three points, and you don’t get much better than that!
I’m sure they’re going to go home very happy.
To bounce back like that, especially to do it for them as well, was so, so good. Man for man today, I can’t fault anyone. We obviously made a lot of changes and fair play to the boys who have come in at this crucial stage because it’s not easy when you’re not playing.
[For players] to come in and put in a performance like that shows how together we are.
It shows how much we want to do it for the Club, for ourselves, for the manager. Defensively today was probably the best we’ve been in terms of clearances, heading the ball, regrouping, [stopping] cut-backs, winning things, and free-kicks, it was just relentless today and, without being rude, I feel if Fulham were out there now they’d still be trying to score!
The win is a credit to our defence today.
And of course, the main man in goal Łukasz has got that strong hand on that chance from Andreas Pereira [in the last ten minutes]. That’s a season-defining moment.
When we catch teams on the counter-attack, that’s when we’re at our best.
That’s what we’ve built off since the Gaffer's come in and the last two seasons. This year we’ve obviously tried to change our ways by playing a bit more possession-based football – it’s had its positives but it’s also had its negatives.
I think today you’ve seen a vintage West Ham performance, where on the counter-attack we were devastating
But it’s about adding that final bit of putting it in the back of the net, and between now and the end of the season, there are teams around us who won today and teams around us who lost. We can only worry about ourselves, and I think a couple more wins and we’ll be just fine.
It’s a massive step and shows the character and desire [in our dressing room].
The Club doesn’t deserve to be where it is, but we are because we haven’t been as good on the pitch as we were last season and now we’re trying to dig ourselves out of it. It's a massive week, three games gone, and now we go on to a massive quarter-final in Gent. There are a lot of positives to head into the new week with.
