West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has declared that his side deserved to edge Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon.

Jack Collison scored the only goal just before the break as the Hammers recorded their first away win since November and moved to 12th in the Premier League.

Allardyce believes that his team merited their win thanks to a spirited display that saw them overcome early injuries to Matt Taylor and Joe Cole to keep a cleat sheet.

He told BBC Sport: "We had to overcome the blow of losing Matt Taylor and Joe Cole early on. It is a fantastic win and we deserved victory.

"When I saw Charlie Adam's late shot, because of the number of wonder goals that have gone in against us, I thought not again but we got a bit of luck. We got the victory we deserved."

The Hammers are now nine points clear of the relegation zone and a single point away from Fulham in 10th place.