West Ham boss Slaven Bilic insists Andy Carroll is the key to the Hammers’ turn in fortunes after the striker scored two goals in their 3-1 defeat of Middlesbrough on Saturday.

The victory saw the Hammers move into the top half of the Premier League table for only the second time this term, after a poor start to the season in which they recorded just six league victories before the New Year.

They have since gone on to seal back-to-back wins, following last weekend’s comfortable toppling of Crystal Palace at the London Stadium, with Jonathan Calleri completing the scoring at the Riverside on Saturday.

And as the East London side continue to turn their season on its head,  Bilic couldn’t be more thrilled to have his number one striker on red hot form.

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“Andy Carroll, week in, week out, is brilliant,” he said. “I am always saying this, he is a brilliant player, not just with his goals, but he makes such an impact with his presence.

“The goals are obviously important but it’s so hard to stop him in the box and so for him to score two goals is brilliant.

“I have told you why I’m a big fan of Andy; he does everything. The only problem before was that he wasn’t available to play.

“Hopefully he is going to stay fit. He felt his groin a bit and we didn’t want to risk it because we don’t want to lose him.

“He’s great though, he is one of the leaders and he enjoys that.”

And according to the man himself, confidence is at an all-time high in the Hammers camp.

“The morale in the dressing room is fantastic,” said Carroll. “All the lads are having a laugh and it’s great to be around. Everyone wants to work for the manager and it’s brilliant.

“It was tough at the beginning of the season, but we came out of that and we’re just thinking about each game as it comes.”

West Brom returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday, and Ben Foster believes his side are more than capable of hitting the 50-point mark this season.

The Baggies keeper had a rather quieter afternoon than his previous outing, with his side recovering well from last week’s 4-0 hammering at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur to register a third win in four league matches

And with an impressive 32 points from their 22 games, Tony Pulis’ charges are in the rare position of looking up, rather than down, the Premier League table.

It’s a position Foster is confident his side can make the most of, though he admits not even his top-flight experience can hint at how the rest of the campaign will go.

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“You can never really tell how a season is going to go, so when you play certain teams is quite an important thing,” he said.

“Thankfully, Sunderland were a few players short, but you know that every player gives their all.

“Our aim is to stay in the top half, the quality of the team that we have deserves that and the fans also deserve that too.

“I’ve always said I want to get that 50 points. The gaffer always focuses on the 40 and rightly so, but I truly believe we are capable of more.”

David Moyes admits his Sunderland side are missing Lamine Kone after watching his side slip to defeat to West Brom.

Darren Fletcher and Chris Brunt’s goals sent the Black Cats back to the bottom of the table after Swansea surprised Liverpool at Anfield.

Former Lorient defender Kone is on international duty with Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations this month.

And Moyes admits his side need the 27-year-old – who only joined last year – to return as soon as possible.

“We are missing Lamine Kone at the back. He gives a steadying influence. This was always going to be a difficult period. We are making mistakes and I will take responsibility for that,” said Moyes.

“We are not that far away (from safety). We have to keep going and hope our turn for results will come. We have given away two or three poor goals but our play is not particularly bad – but goals change games.

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“We played better in the second than the first, that is for sure. We are giving poor goals away and we are doing everything we can to eradicate it, but it is a disease we have got at the moment.

“We led to our own downfall but credit to the boys and credit to young George Honeyman, who was our best player by a long way today. We can take some positives from the game.”

Match winner Gylfi Sigurdsson believes new head coach Paul Clement is already starting make his impact at the club felt after Swansea City toppled Liverpool at Anfield.

The Icelandic international netted with 16 minutes left to give the Swans their first away league victory over the Reds after Roberto Firmino had cancelled out Fernando Llorente’s two goals after the break.

It was also Clement’s first win as boss since taking charge and helped lift them out of the relegation zone.

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And with home fixtures to come against Southampton and Leicester City, either side of a trip to face Manchester City, Sigurdsson believes the victory over high-flying Liverpool could be invaluable.

“Training has been really good over the last few weeks. We know what he wants from us and the message is really simple and very clear,” he said.

“Three points here today will give everyone belief and confidence and things look a lot better going into the week.

“But we need to keep doing what we’ve been doing over the last few weeks and build on it and hopefully we’ll be alright.’’

Sigurdsson took his tally of goals for the season to seven, in all competitions, with his winner although he reserved special words of praise for fellow scorer Llorente, who is apparently a transfer target for Chelsea.

“Llorente is a goalscorer and for him to score two is fantastic. And for it to be in a game that we won, is even better,” he added.

“He worked really hard and showed that when he gets deliveries on his head he will score goals. It’s good for his confidence and hopefully he will keep scoring.’’

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is eager to see a quick response from his Reds team-mates if they are to continue their hunt for the Premier League title, following defeat to Swansea City.

A Roberto Firmino brace brought Jurgen Klopp’s men back from a two-goal deficit after strikes from Fernando Llorente had given the Swans the lead at Anfield.

But Gylfi Sigurdsson scored on the counter-attack just five minutes after Firmino’s equaliser to send the Reds to a 3-2 defeat – their first league loss on home soil in over a year.

The result leaves Liverpool languishing seven points behind league leaders Chelsea, but Henderson is confident his side can bounce back as they look to overturn Southampton’s one-goal advantage in their EFL Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

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Asked if Saturday’s defeat was a fatal blow to their title campaign, Henderson said: “No-one knows that, we’ll find out at the end of the season.

“But it’s how you react after defeats, that’s how you can show character, show your spirit and show how good you are as a team in the game after.

“The next game is very important for us, and we need to react in the right way.”

And despite being disappointed by the way his side threw away the points, Henderson insists confidence remains high in the Liverpool camp.

“One defeat doesn’t make you a bad team, we’ve still got a lot of confidence in the squad,” he said.

“When we went 2-0 down you could see we still felt as though we could get back in it, which we did.

“But maybe we were pushing that bit too much for the third and we needed to be a bit more patient, as we got done on the counter.

“So, we’re very disappointed but the games come thick and fast and we need to be ready for the next one.

“We still feel very confident as a team, we’ve got brilliant players and we just need to keep going the way we have.”

After Francis Coquelin, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny committed to new Arsenal contracts this week, skipper Per Mertesacker has revealed his delight that his defensive partner has extended his stay in North London.

The 31-year-old Frenchman joined Arsenal back in 2010, from Lorient, and has since gone on to establish himself as undisputed first-choice in central defence with the Gunners – while amassing 42 caps for his national side.

German defender Mertesacker has also recently agreed terms on a new deal with Arsenal, and with an eight-point gap to Premier League leaders Chelsea, both will be crucial in the weeks to come.

Mertesacker linked up with Arsene Wenger’s team in 2011 and the two defenders have worked together ever since, with the 32-year-old German admitting that Koscielny’s progression has left him stunned.

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“I’ve worked closely with Laurent ever since I arrived here and it’s been great to witness his continued progression,” he said.

“He’s really developed his skills in so many areas – his defending, his communication and how he’s handled becoming a key player for this club.

“It’s an absolute joy to watch him play because he has all the ingredients to be a top defender, which he is.

“I’m just proud to be his team-mate and keeping him here was absolutely the best decision the club could have made.”

Eldin Jakupovic’s confidence is soaring now he’s back in the Hull City team and the goalkeeper is desperate to repay the faith shown in him by new manager Marco Silva.

Jakupovic has started each of the three games that Silva has been in charge for – the FA Cup victory over Swansea, the EFL Cup loss to Manchester United and the impressive Premier League win over Bournemouth last weekend.

The clash against the Cherries was the Swiss stopper’s first league appearance since mid-September and he performed admirably.

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The 32-year-old could be in line to start against Chelsea on Sunday and admits he is enjoying the run in the side that Silva is affording him.

“It’s a good feeling because I want to play every game,” said Jakupovic. “I have always given my best when I’ve played and the manager has given me my chance in the last three games.

“I think I have done okay and I’m going to keep giving my best. Sometimes you have a good game and sometimes you have a bad game but I will always try for the team.

“It’s good for my confidence to be playing. The manager has given me my chance and now I have to pay him back.

“Against Bournemouth I think I gave him something so let’s go to the next game. It will be difficult but that’s football in the Premier League.”

Leicester City won the Premier League title last season primarily playing with just one formation but Claudio Ranieri insists he is always happy to mix things up.

The 4-2-3-1 system worked brilliantly for the Foxes a year ago, with N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater pulling the strings in a midfield duo.

But since Kante’s departure, Leicester have struggled to recreate their title-winning form, and are in a relegation battle in defence of their crown.

And Ranieri explained that for him the crucial factor is not the formation in which the players line up, but rather their attitude on the pitch.

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He said: “It’s not important the system, but the mentality is important. The system can help you. I’m not closed with the 4-2-3-1 like we are used to playing or the three at the back. It’s important to understand the best players I can choose to put the opponent under pressure.

“You have to surprise the opponent. If you want to make some changes, there are so many teams that change their system.

“Sometimes I do this, sometimes during the training session we change the system. For example this week, one half they played one system and the other another system. The mind of the players is open.”

Antonio Conte admits he may have to allow goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to leave the club during the January transfer window, if his second-choice stopper decides to chase first-team football.

The 29-year-old Bosnian international has played second fiddle to Thibaut Courtois since his £8million move from Stoke City in 2015, restricted largely to appearances in domestic cup competitions.

But with a £10million bid from Bournemouth on the table, and Begovic’s attitude as a backup second to none, Conte concedes he wants to do what is best for the player.

That would leave the Italian manager with only 34-year-old Portuguese keeper Eduardo as cover for Courtois, but Conte insists he trusts his summer signing from Dinamo Zagreb – despite the fact that he is yet to play for the Blues.

“Firstly, I want to say Asmir is an important player for me on and off the pitch, he knows this,” he said.

“There is this offer. Myself and the club are evaluating the offer, but it’s important to find the right solution for Asmir, the club and me.

“There is one offer. It’s good for us to see the situation, face the situation and find the right solution. We are evaluating this but the club and player know my position, for me he is an important player.

“Eduardo was a great buy for us. He arrived this season as third-choice goalkeeper and the positions in the team are very clear in my mind.

“I’m very happy for him because Eduardo is working very well and he’s helping myself, Thibaut and Asmir a lot, as well as helping [goalkeeping coach] Gianluca Spinelli.

“I’m very pleased for his commitment and behaviour, he’s a very good goalkeeper and he’s doing well.”

He came in as Burnley’s record signing in the summer transfer window and Jeff Hendrick is settling in very nicely to life at Turf Moor.

With one of the best home records in the Premier League, Hendrick has helped Burnley into the top half of the table.

And the Ireland international, who scored what is sure to be one of the goals of the season when firing in from long range to beat Bournemouth in December, claims confidence has everything to do with his form for the Clarets.

“I thought I settled in pretty quickly but I always knew there was more to come from me. I still think there is,” said the 24-year-old former Derby man.

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“I feel I’m playing with a lot of confidence. It is a great thing to have.

“I’ve been at the other end of the scale at times during my career when I’ve been low on confidence.

“It’s not nice and it’s a hard thing to turn around, so while you’ve got it you’ve got to embrace it and enjoy the games.

“I’m loving playing here with this group of lads and for the staff. I’ve enjoyed the games I’ve played in and I think I’m getting better as the games go on.

“I feel I’m growing as a player within the group and hopefully I can continue to do that and keep improving.”