West Ham have won three games in a row in all competitions, and all of a sudden some confidence has been injected into the football club.
Victories against in the FA Cup and both and in the Premier League have alleviated a lot of the pressure on Nuno Espirito Santo's shoulders after a run of incredibly damaging defeats had left the club seven points adrift of safety.
The gap is now five points, which means there's still a lot of work to be done. But aside from the uptick in form, it has been the performances in the recent wins which have been the most pleasing to see.
There's a bit of a swagger about the squad again, especially evident in Saturday's impressive 3-1 victory over Sunderland. The players are very clearly playing for the manager and, most importantly, for each other.
Crysencio Summerville's three goals in as many games will have boosted his confidence no end, while the arrival of new forward signings Taty Castellanos and Pablo has allowed Jarrod Bowen to return to his favoured position on the right wing. Mateus Fernandes is thriving in midfield in the absence of Lucas Paqueta.
Defensively, there are still issues we desperately need to fix in the final week of the winter transfer window – one clean sheet all season is just not good enough – but going forward and in the middle of the park, we look far more like a team which is more than good enough to compete at this level.
That's the most encouraging aspect as we enter the final 15 league games of the season.
If the squad can keep up this form, continue to show the same level of hunger and, hopefully, start keeping more clean sheets, the pressure will well and truly be on Leeds and Nottingham Forest to keep the Hammers behind them.
Find more from James Jones at We Are West Ham
