West Ham boss Moyes backs 'good guy' Hughton in survival battle

West Ham manager David Moyes. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

Two brilliant second-half strikes by Jose Izquierdo and Pascal Gross earned Albion a 3-1 victory over the Hammers on Saturday, after Javier Hernandez had cancelled out Glenn Murray’s early opener.

Moyes, who replaced Slaven Bilic as West Ham boss in November, believes that his opposite number for the weekend has the managerial quality to keep Brighton up.

He said: "I think Chris Hughton has done a great job over his time here.

"They made it difficult for us today and they are a club that continues to make steps forward and I'm sure they will. Chris is a good guy."

West Ham and Brighton share the same points tally and goal difference after 26 games, with Moyes’ side sitting just one place ahead in 12th on goals scored, and the Scotsman believes both sides need more victories to stay up this season.

He added: "It's always a manager's job (to keep their team up). When I took over, if you had given me this position and these points at this time I think I would have shaken your hand and said thank you very much as we were still in the bottom three.

“We're still in a battle at the bottom and we are going to have to win more games to stay up but it will be the same for Brighton and all the other teams.

“Everyone knows how important it is to make sure we are a Premier League club."