West Ham Boss David Moyes Praises Vital Three Points After 2-1 Win Over West Brom

West Ham manager David Moyes spoke of the importance of the points picked up against West Brom on Tuesday, despite the performance of his side not being as good as he wanted.

West Brom opened the scoring with James McClean, before a brace from Andy Carroll, including a 94th minute winner, took the points for the Hammers.

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Speaking to Sky Sports, Moyes said: "You can see how important it was, I think if they had scored Alan [Pardew] would've felt the same. It was a vital three points for us.

"We've come close; we were a bit unlucky against Newcastle a few weeks ago and obviously we felt we should've won the game in the last minute at Bournemouth, but to do it today was maybe just."

His team's performance wasn't exactly top notch, as they were fairly outplayed in the first half.

"I didn't think we played well. I thought the system we played didn't work tonight, but it has been good to us.

"We made the changes and got 15 yards further up the pitch in the second half, I thought we were the better team in the second half."

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The introduction of captain and fan favourite Mark Noble seemed to ignite the will to score a second, and Moyes noted the risk he took throwing him on.

"I though Mark played well. He gave us a bit of experience which was required, but people were worried because he's only just back from a hamstring injury."

Moyes also commented on the cramped fixture list over the festive period, much like his West Brom counterpart Pardew, who has made quite a noise in the media about his distaste for it.

"You can see the amount of injuries that clubs are picking up around this time of year because of the severity of the games."

Moyes also praised the manner in which Carroll's goals were scored, with the first being typical centre-forward's goal; heading in from an in-swinging cross.

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"They were top goals. With the first one, I don't think many centre-halves could've dealt with it, with his leap.

"I've also got to say the ball in was terrific and you have to give him the credit for the quality of the finish on the second one."

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Carroll, who hadn't started a Premier League game since the 1-1 draw with Leicester in November, also ended a goal drought that had seen him fail to score in nine months.

"The reason he's not played is because the boys who have played have done well Micky Antonio, Marco Arnautovic have played well, scored us goals."

The defending of West Ham was at times very uncoordinated, with several West Brom chances coming from a lack of conviction from the home side's defenders.

"It's been at the other end of the pitch where we've had to do better. For long periods of tonight we didn't do well enough at the back but in the end we got our reward."

The result lifts West Ham out of the relegation zone into 16th ahead of a trip to Tottenham on Thursday night.