Sunderland 1 West Ham 2: This is top-six form, claims Sam Allardyce

Sam Allardyce has praised West Ham United’s current form after the Hammers moved further clear of danger thanks to a win at Sunderland.

Former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll broke the deadlock in the ninth minute before Mohamed Diame doubled the visitors’s lead with 40 minutes remaining at the Stadium of Light.

We’ve had a run of form in the last eight games where we’ve picked up 15 points from 8 games, results like that over the course of a season mean a top six finish

Sam Allardyce

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet introduced Adam Johnson in a bid to rescue a result from the match and the winger scored in the 65th minute but the Hammers clung on to secure three points.

The east London side moved 11 points clear of danger thanks to the victory, and Hammers boss Allardyce reserved special praise of England international Carroll ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

“It was a fantastic win for us and we’ve now gone an extra distance away from Sunderland after that win,” Allardyce told BBC Sport.

“If Andy Carroll stays fit from now to the end of the season hopefully he can go to the World Cup, he’s scoring goals and winning games for us.

“He’s not match fit at the moment, he isn’t as sharp as he could be so hopefully we’ll see more from him in the next few weeks.”

Allardyce added: “We’ve had a run of form in the last eight games where we’ve picked up 15 points from 8 games, results like that over the course of a season mean a top six finish.”