Nuno Espírito Santo has now been gifted options & energy to revitalise West Ham’s season following the excellent win at Southampton.

Our Hammers claimed a fully deserved 4-1 win at St Mary’s to fire the club into the 3rd round of the Carabao Cup, but more importantly it could be the springboard the side needed for this campaign.

The club has started the season in the Championship poorly and thus far has looked very far off a side that is going to be challenging for promotion.

It’s a start that has seen many call for change, with Nuno failing to deliver and show any real unity or team spirit with his players.

However, the performance on the south coast feels like the boss has been handed a blueprint and hopefully a turning point for this season, with West Ham showcasing a far more spirited and hungry display that all will hope can now be built upon.

There were some very positive moments too, in particular the performance of Lewis Orford, who appears to be improving each time he walks onto the pitch.

Then there was the reaction from Taty when he scored and after the game, with a clear shift in body language that appeared to show he is very much up for the fight this season.

Ajala scoring a brace on his senior debut too feels like not only a huge moment for the lad himself, but also for Nuno knowing he has another option there.

Of course we cannot get carried away, the proof will be how we now compete against Watford at the weekend.

But we produce another performance in that vain, then it’ll feel that finally we might be able to start enjoying this season and begin to chase promotion.