West Ham Boss Slaven Bilic Salutes His Players After 'Huge' Win Over Struggling Swansea

​West Ham manager Slaven Bilic was quick to congratulate his players after they claimed a 'huge' victory over Swansea City to ease their relegation fears. 

A run of five straight defeats meant that the Croatian and his team went into Saturday's match knowing that another loss would bring them within two points of the bottom three. Though it was a poor game, Cheikhou Kouyate's classy finish proved enough to grab the Hammers an important three points and move them well clear of the drop zone. 

Speaking after the match, the West Ham boss was quick to praise his players for their efforts and insisted that his side were worthy winners. 

Bilic told the ​BBC: "It is a huge win and I congratulate the boys. The spirit, team-work. We were solid and we were dangerous. We deserved to win. Maybe we could have scored another goal to make it a little easier for us.

"It was much-needed. There was big pressure, not on me, but the players. The crowd recognised that and they were behind us.

"It was a great goal. We started well and after half an hour they slowed us down. We had chances before the goal, but in every game you need a spark of extra quality. It was a good, solid team performance."

With his team lurking near the bottom three before the game at the London stadium, Bilic went into the match under enormous pressure himself with some reports suggesting that his job was on the line and that defeat could well spell the end of his tenure. 

With the victory now easing fears that he may face the sack, the 48-year-old insisted the result was of greater significance for West Ham as a whole and warned that his players must not relax and be dragged back into a relegation scrap before the end of the season. 

He added: "It's my job, but there's a bigger picture about the club. We are the ones to blame for being in this position. I was celebrating for the players, because they have been with me and they deserve it.

"Now we need four more points as soon as possible. We were out of the relegation battle six games ago and we are out of it again. We don't want to be in it again."

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