West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola was thrilled with their 2-0 win over Portsmouth.

Alessandro Diamanti's penalty and Radoslav Kovac's late header earned a 2-0 win at Upton Park, leaving Pompey rooted to the bottom and boosting hopes of the Hammers beating the drop by climbing out of the relegation zone.

"It was a fantastic win, a massive one," said Zola. "I rated this as a six-point game, it was so important for the table and for morale.

"The boys won it with a lot of character and it will be a big boost for everybody."

Zola is hoping his side can repeat their efforts of last season when a Boxing Day victory against Pompey sparked a run that saw them climb the table.

"Hopefully it will be the same as last year," the Italian said. "We will face games now with a bit more security.

"In this period coming up I think we can do something important."