West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is happy to see Javier Hernandez off the mark in defeat at Southampton.

The Hammers sit at the foot of the table after losing their opening two matches at Manchester United and Southampton, but know victory at Newcastle United on Saturday will see them rise above the Magpies.

“You don't want to be bottom of the league, even before the first game, so we need to change that first letter from W!" he joked.

“It's never good to be bottom of the league, so I would like to change it and not to be that way, but to be fair, although I am very disappointed, we're going to take a lot of positives with the way we played the game."

One major positive was the performance and two goals scored by Chicharito at St Mary's Stadium, where the Mexican's outstanding reactions and finishing so nearly secured a heroic point for his new team.

“We are very pleased that he is our player," Bilic confirmed to whufc.com. “He was our target and it was a long shot, but we never gave up on him and it was always possible.

“We had to fight with a few other clubs, of course, but we were delighted when we did it because we expected and knew what we were getting and he showed on Saturday what he is all about. Plus, the work he did when we were down to ten and to play the whole second half in left midfield when he was needed [was outstanding].

“He knows we liked him because we wanted to get him when he went from Manchester United to Leverkusen [in 2015]. We spoke then and I called him on the phone. He opted for Leverkusen and he called and said 'Thank you gaffer but I'm going to Leverkusen but maybe we'll speak again'.

“After two years we spoke again so we didn't start from zero. I know it helped him to choose us."