Slaven Bilic has implored his West Ham United side to build on the confidence gained from their last-gasp 1-0 Premier League win against Sunderland.

The Hammers looked to be heading for a goalless draw against an uninspired Black Cats side before Winston Reid struck deep into injury time against the league’s bottom club. The relief around London Stadium was palpable and Bilic believes the victory, which was West Ham’s second on the bounce, can provide a spring board for the club the push on.

“I told you we never lost our energy in training and never lost out faith and belief, we lost our confidence and are still in that situation,” he said.

“No training, no motivation, no analysis can get that [confidence] back like victories can especially two clean sheets and six points.

“Now we have to grab it and keep this momentum and build on it of course. In many aspects of football we are looking much better now both offensively and defensively.”

The manner of West Ham’s goal was far from the ordinary late winner as they opted to work a corner short rather than flood the penalty area.

The ball was played back to Winston Reid after Dimitri Payet and Mark Noble had played a short corner and the centre-back fired home from the edge of the box.

While David Moyes was left to rue a player who looked to be in an offside position obstructing Jordan Pickford’s view, Bilic praised his players’ quick thinking.

“You can’t say it was one from the training sessions because you aren’t expecting Winston Reid to be there,” he explained.

“They made a mistake because they thought, and I thought, that we were going to put the ball in the six yard box and Winston is going to be in there.

“They went with all the players to protect the six yard box, so it was a really good and crucial decision of from Payet and Mark Noble to come with the ball outside the box.

“Of course you have to be a bit lucky when you score that kind of goal but I think we deserved it and it was crucial.”

The Hammers boss will now hope his side can maintain there performance levels for the visit of Chelsea in the League Cup on Wednesday.