Mark Noble took the captain's armband once Kevin Nolan was sent off

West Ham midfielder in a modest mood after man-of-the-match performance

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West Ham’s Mark Noble refused to bask in the glory after his man-of-the-match performance against Millwall helped secure a 2-1 victory for the Hammers.

The Canning Town-born midfielder caught the eye with an all-action performance at the heart of Sam Allardyce’s side, as the 24-year-old took the captain’s armband when Kevin Nolan was sent off in the ninth minute, for a two-footed challenge on Millwall’s Jack Smith.

However, Noble was quick to praise the contribution of other members of the team.

“After losing our captain we knew it was going to be tough,” he said.

“And it was tough, but the boys at the back were brilliant, so was James Tomkins.

“Coley (Carlton Cole) up front was fantastic and then you had Julien (Faubert) wide right and Jack (Collison) in the first half and then Matty (Taylor) came on and filled in and it was like everyone was at their best and that is what we needed after we went down to 10 men.

“The energy and commitment that the boys showed was fantastic and they should be proud of themselves.”

Following Nolan’s dismissal, Noble became the Hammers’ go-to man in midfield, with the team relying on him to create chances and get the team going again.

And the midfielder admits that he relishes those responsibilities when they are handed to him.

“After Nobby (Kevin Nolan) got sent off I can imagine how everyone felt, thinking that we had 90 per cent of the game to go with 10 men,” he said.

“I wanted to get on the ball and get the tempo up and get the crowd back with us and hopefully the boys fed off that and credit to us, we went in 1-0 up and it was a great header from Coley and I think that we thoroughly deserved what we got in the end.

“I want to do everything I can to help the team, like get on the ball and make us tick and I am trying to do that at the minute and we keep on winning games.”

The Hammers went in at half time leading 1-0 thanks to Cole’s header, but after the break, Liam Trotter equalised for the Lions, forcing Allardyce’s men to go in search of a winning goal.

And it took West Ham just three minutes before Winston Reid struck a sweet half-volley into the Millwall net after a questionable challenge on the visitors’ keeper David Forde by Faubert.

Noble admits that he wasn’t surprised by Reid’s stylish finish, while he also expected the referee to award a foul against Faubert.

“To be honest, I was going to turn around because I thought it was a foul,” he said.

“I was speaking to Greeny (Rob Green) after the game and asked why it wasn’t a foul and he said that if the keeper comes to catch the ball then it would get given, but if he comes to punch it and is all over the place, then it won’t.

“Reidy is technically a very good player, he can play the ball and funnily enough he has some skills too, which you don’t see too much because the gaffer would kill him at the back.

“But he is technically very good and I was just over the moon that he put the chance away.”

Noble could not hide his delight at the final whistle, and couldn’t help himself jumping up and down and punching the air.

“We needed to bounce back from the Ipswich game, which was nowhere near good enough for all of our standards,” he said.

“Playing against Millwall was a chance to resurrect ourselves and become a team again and I thought we did that.”

The Hammers now have two tricky games in four days, as they travel to Peterborough on Saturday before entertaining second-placed Southampton on Valentine’s Day.

And with West Ham having won four out of five league games this calendar year, Noble is looking forward to trying to make it six out of seven.

“Every game is massive in this league,” he said.

“We went away to Ipswich and got thrashed but that is what happens and if you aren’t on it 100 per cent energy wise as a team then there is every chance that you are going to get beaten.”