West Ham United’s Mark Noble believes the Hammers’ credentials will be tested over the Christmas period, but sees no reason why they cannot extend their excellent start to the season.

Consecutive wins over West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United in the space of three days have moved Sam Allardyce’s side back into fifth place in the Premier League – just a point behind Manchester United in fourth.

And with a Christmas schedule which will see the east Londoners play three of their four fixtures in front of their own supporters at Upton Park, midfielder Noble is keen to maximise the number of points garnered.

Speaking to the club’s website, the Canning Town-born schemer said: “The manager has shown us some stats and our Christmas periods since he has been here have not been the best. Whether that is because of injuries and we haven’t had a big enough squad I don’t know.

“The Christmas period is so demanding and you need a big squad for that because people do pick up injuries. We have four games in eight days and you need the squad to be able to deal with that. I think we have that this year.”

West Ham host bottom-of-the-table Leicester City on December 20 before facing a tough away trip to league-leaders Chelsea on Boxing Day. Out-of-sorts Arsenal then visit Upton Park two days later, with West Brom the visitors on New Year’s Day.

However, Noble is confident the Hammers are more than capable of extending a run of form which has seen them upset the odds to become surprise challengers for a European spot next season, with victories over Manchester City and Liverpool only serving to strengthen West Ham’s claim.

Noble added: “If we can keep going the way we are going, who knows where we’ll end up. But the league is so tight. Everyone keeps beating everyone and that shows you the quality of the Premier League. We have to just keep winning games and take it game by game.

“It is natural for expectations to go up. We are in a good position, but we played a top-five side on Saturday and we had to dig in harder to get a result. That’s what happens. Newcastle were good but we came away with a clean sheet and three points and the fans went home happy.”