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Manuel Pellegrini insists that he won't be letting his squad rest on their laurels following a a fantastic fortnight in which they collected seven Premier League points and scored eight in a Carabao Cup tie.

Wins against Everton an Manchester United, plus a draw with unbeaten Chelsea have catapulted the Hammers up the Premier League table, after they sat bottom of it at the end of August.

However the manager says that his players will have to continue to give maximum effort if they are to extend their run with matches against Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday night.

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"We are improving," said Pellegrini. "I don't know if we are in our best moment, especially in the three games last week. But we must be careful and keep improving, because every game in the Premier League is very difficult.

"The turning point must continue. I don't think we are in a top level because we beat Manchester United. I don't like our position in the table so we must keep working. I think we must play [well] against Brighton and be the team we were last week.

We are ready for tomorrow’s match against Brighton. We know is a tough game, but we are confident in the work that we have done over the week.#Westham #COYI

— Manuel Pellegrini R. (@Ing_Pellegrini) October 4, 2018

"Brighton have a strong team and had the same manager for a few seasons, so we must be wary of them. We expect always a difficult game against every team, for different reasons. Brighton also beat Manchester United and they are at home, so we have to be very clear in the way we approach the game."

And when asked to define exactly what has brought about the squad's abrupt change in fortune, Pellegrini maintained that it was a combination of hard work and playing better quality football - and believes that there is more to come.

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"We need to continue improving in a lot of things. The last ten days we are improving, but I don't think we are at 100 per cent," he surmised. "It's difficult to know exactly why the team is playing well.

"I'm not a manager who gives too much importance to having two or three in [central] midfield, but a manager who believes more in passing the ball when we have it and working well when we don't have possession.

"Our lines are tight and we don't have too much distance between them, but that's not just because we have three midfielders."

West Ham face Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Friday evening; the Seagulls will definitely be without the injured Pascal Gross, whilst there will be a late fitness test to ascertain whether Dale Stephens is fit to feature for Chris Hughton’s team.

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