West Ham dreaming of top-six spot thanks to Felipe Anderson's awakening

Felipe Anderson took some time to find his feet in the Premier League, but hard work to improve his English and extra time in the gym is helping the Brazilian flourish at West Ham.

Anderson scored a stunning goal as West Ham beat Crystal Palace 3-2 on Saturday to climb into the top half of the table for the first time this season, if only until Wolves won on Sunday.

The £47million club-record signing was written off by some as an expensive mistake after he struggled in the opening weeks of the season, but he is now starting to show his class.

Anderson has scored five goals in his last six games and his curling effort from the edge of the area against Palace demonstrated his growing confidence.

It capped another fine individual display and his team-mate, Robert Snodgrass, has revealed how hard the 25-year-old works on the training ground and behind the scenes.

“He is always in the gym, trying to do better, trying to learn better English,” said Snodgrass of the summer acquisition from Lazio. “He is a good professional, it is a simple as that.

“Sometimes you get lads coming from foreign countries and maybe they do not understand what it takes to play at this level. He had a few games that he found a little bit difficult but he battled through it.

“He is working so hard to do what he is doing week in, week out. I am happy for him and long may it continue. He is a good lad. It is great to see him scoring goals because he is a terrific talent.”

Anderson was again influential against Palace as West Ham made it three consecutive League wins for the first time since December 2016.

The Hammers sat bottom of the table after losing their first four League matches, but they have made real improvement under Pellegrini and are now up to 11th, five points behind sixth-placed Manchester United. The Chilean is targeting a push for the top six ahead of an inviting run of games against Fulham, Watford, Southampton, Burnley and Brighton and qualification for Europe must now be a realistic target.

With Anderson in brilliant form, that could be a realistic aim. He has the star quality of former Hammer Dimitri Payet, but Pellegrini says the Brazilian is still adapting to the Premier League. Asked how Anderson needs to improve his game, Pellegrini said: “He runs too much with the ball in every game and here you cannot do it because there are a lot of players with a lot of power.

“But in every game he is doing less of that, he is improving and he is appearing in every game with important things which he demonstrates against top players.”

Meanwhile, Andy Carroll is targeting a new contract at West Ham. The striker’s current deal runs out at the end of the season but he wants to stay at the club.

Carroll has been plagued by injury since he joined from Liverpool for £15m in 2013, but he is determined to prove his worth to Pellegrini now he is fit.

The 29-year-old came off the bench at half-time against Palace to help stir a West Ham comeback and he said: “It is important for me to get back playing, get back fully fit and show that I deserve another deal here. It would be great if I can get it. If not, then we will see what happens. But, at the minute, I am focused on staying here.”