Sam Allardyce credited a tactical switch at half-time for West Ham's improved second half in Sunday's 3-0 Premier League victory over Hull City.
West Ham were second best in the opening period at Upton Park, as strugglers Hull put in a spirited showing.
The hosts switched to a diamond formation in the second period, though, and a quicker tempo resulted in Andy Carroll tapping home the opener five minutes after the break.
Substitute Morgan Amalfitano's clever finish made it 2-0 and Stewart Downing's composed effort in the 72nd minute rounded off the win.
And Allardyce was thrilled with to come through with a win, particularly considering his side needed to extra-time and penalties to beat Everton in Tuesday's FA Cup third round replay.
"There were two things in the first half, there was fatigue from Tuesday night and we weren't functioning well," he told BBC Sport.
"So we went back to a diamond and we started to expose Hull City's defence.
"The first goal going in quickly after half-time really settled us. The quality of the next two finishes is what we've been looking for."
West Ham's win was their first in the league since December 20.
And Allardyce is now hoping to emulate the form of this season's surprise package Southampton and push for European football.
"We only lost two games over the Christmas period - one was Arsenal and the other one was Chelsea," he added.
"I'm hoping we can kick on like Southampton have done because they've put themselves back up there with an outstanding run of wins."
