West Ham United defender James Tomkins is delighted with his progress under manager Gianfranco Zola.

"We played two games in the space of a few days and to pick up another three points was brilliant, particularly against a team like Wigan who are doing well themselves. We come out with the win and I think we deserved it. It was a very physical game but we've come out with another result and that is very important for our position in the league. We coped very well and picked up another three points," Tomkins told whufc.com.

Tomkins has been a big success since coming into the Hammers' starting XI in place of the injured James Collins and has grown in stature. The central defender is enjoying the experience of playing alongside international defenders Matthew Upson. Lucas Neill and Herita Ilunga.

"Against Wigan I think the back-four were brilliant and we defended really well all over the park. Obviously we were down to ten men early on so we had our work cut out. Until they had a man sent-off we were outnumbered and we had to defend well and we did as a unit.

"Everybody put their effort in and the subs came on and did brilliantly for us - Specs [Jonathan Spector] winning headers and Savio too. There is good competition for places and that's obviously good because everybody is playing well, working as a team and there is a good team spirit."