Unity of purpose gets Hammers back to winning ways

Attacker Andy Carroll insists the West Ham players are united in support of manager Slaven Bilic.

The Hammers lifted some of the pressure on Bilic with a 2-0 win against Huddersfield on Monday night to collect their first points of the season.

“We needed the win,” said Carroll. “It’s been tough but the players are behind the manager. It’s been a tough road for us but we played our hearts out and got the three points.”

Bilic, feeling the heat after West Ham lost their first three matches, was able to hand Carroll his first appearance of the season.

The injury-hit forward had been out since April with a thigh problem but is determined to put fitness issues behind him.

“It’s nice to be back on the pitch,” he added. “It’s been a long time over the summer. I’ve been working hard in training and it’s paid off. I’m feeling good.

“It’s been tough but I’ve worked hard and now I’m back. Hopefully all the misery is behind me.”

Huddersfield kept hosts West Ham at bay until the 72nd minute when Pedro Obiang’s shot took a huge deflection off Mathias Jorgensen and looped into the net. Substitute Andre Ayew struck from close range five minutes later to condemn Town to their first defeat of the season.

They were also the first goals goalkeeper Jonas Lossl has let in this season, much to the Dane’s irritation and he said: “I’m really annoyed that the goals came like they did.

“But in the end we were not good enough so we need to look at our mistakes and rise again.

“It was a close game but in the end we could not expect more than a draw.”

Optimism: For attacker Andy Carroll