Make no mistake this was an impressive win over a Fulham side that have been bang in form recently and who have had - prior to today at least - a good defensive record.

The Hammers went ahead early in the 7th minute when Di Michele - who was replacing the missing Bellamy - pounced on a poor attempted clearance from ex-Hammer John Pantsil; the defender having tried to turn a chested down ball back to his keeper.

This was the start of a nightmare half for the player who never quite settled at Upton Park despite crowd encouragement, and he was constantly at sixes and sevens as he tried to deal with several Hammers attacks in general, and Carlton Cole in particular.

In was completely against the run of play when Fulham surprisingly equalised with a wonder strike from another Ex Paul Konchesky. In one of those delicious ironies that football throws up it was the left-back's first goal since he scored the third for West Ham in the 2006 Cup Final.

There looked no danger as the defender broke down the flanks so, with no one to pass to, Konchesky decided to try his luck with a belter that flew just inside Green's post. It was impressive but rather more than the Cottagers deserved.

The half finished 1-1 with both sides hoping to inject some urgency into a game that was never boring but seemed to lack spark.

Fulham opened the second spell well and seemed to be gaining territorial superiority although Rob Green was never threatened and it was no surprise when it was the Hammers who struck after Konchesky earned his home club stripes by bringing down Carlton Cole with the striker almost clean through. Only the fact the Hammers forward was going away from goal probably saved Konchesky from a red card; as it was Noble scored coolly from the spot and the Fulham man saw yellow.

The game was over on 76 minutes when the ever-excellent Behrami superbly broke a Fulham attack and counter punched quickly with a Di Michele pass allowing Cole to slip the ball under the advancing Schwarzer.

With the crowd chanting "Are you watching Bellamy?" the Hammers confidently stroked the ball around and looked dangerous on several occasions but Fulham held out for the 3-1 scoreline.

The three points move 'relegation threatened' West Ham up to eight in the table above Hull - who were deemed to be safe last November - and just behind the top pack.

If Bellamy doesn't want to play for this team and then he needs his head examining - mind you, we all knew that anyway didn't we?