Slaven Bilic hailed Mark Noble as his side's most important player after his two goals helped West Ham to a 2-0 victory at West Brom.
The Hammers captain scored either side of half-time after Cheikhou Kouyate opened the scoring as the they moved above Manchester United into fifth spot in the Premier League.
"He [Noble] is our most important player," Bilic told Sky Sports. "He's the captain. He loves it and he's a West Ham boy.
"Nowadays, with players moving a lot, you get the captains that become the leaders after just one season at the club because they are the best players, but Mark is the real captain of our team.
"It's great for me because he is the coach on the pitch and not only is he a great captain, he's a great player as well."
With three games left to play Europa League qualification is now in West Ham's hands and there is an outside chance of reaching the Champions League, if Arsenal and Manchester City slip up.
And Bilic is confident his side will be playing European football at the Olympic Stadium next season.
"There are three games to go and we are in a good position" Bilic said. "We are still in a position where we can catch maybe one team.
"It's still very open with Manchester United but with Arsenal and Manchester City it's not very likely.
"Our target to qualify for Europe is now realistic and all we can do is go game-by-game," he added. "We need to try to get something out of every game because it's all in our hands.
"We have three games left, two at home. One of them is Manchester United in the last game ever to be played at our stadium. It's magnificent. It's going to be a great occasion and we have a full squad back.
"We are confident and we can't wait for the next game."