A Mark Noble penalty and a last-gasp winner from substitute Zavon Hines gave Zola's side a win on Wednesday evening, lifting them out of the relegation zone at the expense of Blackburn Rovers.

But they also had England goalkeeper Robert Green to thank after he saved a 49th minute penalty from Ashley Young, who made up for his mistake two minutes later by scoring an equalizer.

"The team is playing better and this may well be the turning point," said Zola. "We demonstrated desire and belief and that's what we wanted. Everything else is there. It was a fantastic game to win."

He added: "We got the reward we wanted in the end. I believed and so did the players.

"Every time I play Hines he's been very good. He just needs to keep working the way he is doing. I am very pleased for him and for us."

The Hammers' win was made all the more impressive as they lost Carlton Cole and Herita Ilunga in the first half, after they both picked up hamstring injuries.

"It was unbelievable," said Zola. "The way we started the game was perfect and then we lost Herita and Carlton and the atmosphere went a little bit flat among the players.

"But the second half was a different story and we got our reward.

"I don't think the injuries are serious but they are both hamstrings. We will assess them in the next couple of days."