Manuel Pellegrini hails West Ham character after Huddersfield victory

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini hailed the character of his side as they recovered from 3-1 down to beat Huddersfield 4-3.

The Hammers were staring at an embarrassing defeat to the Premier League's bottom side with 15 minutes left, before Angelo Ogbonna and a Javier Hernandez double handed them a memorable three points.

Pellegrini was less than impressed with West Ham's first half performance and their defending from set-pieces, but he was delighted with the fight shown at the end and labelled it a win for the supporters.

"This is a match for the fans," Pellegrini said. "Everyone was disappointed with our performance when we were losing 3-1.

"I think that the biggest merit for our team was that we never gave up, we tried to continue, we kept working, playing and we scored three goals."

On the first-half display, he added: "We didn't play with the pace that this game needed. Before the game I talked with our players and we told them that this is a team that plays well, they are nearly relegated and have no pressure.

"Maybe they do not score too many goals but they are dangerous at set pieces and their first two goals came from set-pieces.

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"We were a little bit lucky as there was as moment in our box when two of their players missed a chance, or it would have been 4-3 to them. So I think that bit of luck, and our reaction to going 3-1 down and the character of the team was important."

Pellegrini was also pleased that he was able to bring on quality players from the bench. Javier Hernandez was introduced at half-time and scored twice, while Samir Nasri's cross set up Hernandez's first.

"That's important for our team," Pellegrini said. "We've played the whole season with eight or nine players injured, when you have a stronger bench it's so important."