Football: 'We want to be near the top of the table' - Reid

Winston Reid celebrates scoring the winning goal for West Ham United against Sunderland in London on Sunday morning (NZT). Photo / AP

Winston Reid insists the belief has returned to the West Ham squad following their last-gasp win over Sunderland.

Defender Reid was an unlikely match-winner when, four minutes into injury time, he collected Dimitri Payet's square ball on the edge of the area and rifled home through a crowd of players.

The late, late strike made it back-to-back 1-0 wins for the Hammers after a miserable run of five games without a victory.

It also provided their second win of the season at their new London Stadium, where West Ham have struggled since making the switch from Upton Park.

'It was really good for us,' said Reid. 'We needed the win, especially at home because we haven't been doing well lately at home, so it was very important.

'I was a bit surprised to find myself in that position. Dimi has got the ball and I was expecting him to shoot, but he passed it to me.

'I managed to get my head up, fired off a shot and it went in.

'Now we need to pick up more points. We'd like to be up near the top of the table.

'We've got a young squad so it's important that they don't feel there is pressure on them, and a lot of us senior players have been talking about that.

'We've got a strong squad, we've got great belief and it's nice to get back-to-back wins.'

Defeat was cruel on rock-bottom Sunderland who, having survived a Payet-inspired onslaught for the first half-hour, would have been good value for a point.

'We started the game sloppily but recovered very well,' captain John O'Shea told the club website. 'We started the second half well and could have been in front.

'We needed to see out the game but unfortunately we switched off a little bit.

'Now we have to pick ourselves up off the floor. We want to start winning games as quickly as possible.'