Slaven Bilic was left with mixed emotions at the final whistle of Wednesday's EFL cup tie against Accrington Stanley, after an unconvincing West Ham display required late heroics from Dimitri Payet to save the day.
"The main thing was to go through," Bilic noted when talking to "?the Express. "We expected an easier win, with the greatest respect, and not to have to do it in the last minute."
The Hammers boss would have been hoping to see his side more dominant against League Two opposition, especially after fielding a strong starting XI containing real Premier League calibre.
But, with the scoreline goalless after 45 minutes, Bilic was forced to look to his bench. He made three purposeful substitutions, two of those at half time, in a real statement of West Ham's intent.
"We wanted to progress and that's why we brought Dimitri, and Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio on."
Far from making an instant impact, the Hammers still struggled to take control of the tie. This fact was compelled by left full back Arthur Masuaku being forced to come off due to injury, leaving West Ham down to 10 men after using all of their substitutes.
87: Masuaku has a problem with his left knee and hobbles off. West Ham will finish the game with ten men... [0-0] #WHUACC #COYI
The game remained 0-0 until the 96th minute, when Payet produced a special free-kick to spare Bilic's blushes. On reflection, and considering West Ham's dismal recent league form, Bilic was relieved to see his side win.
"We went down to 10 men but we wanted to score before extra time and then, a great moment from a great player. We didn't play good but I thought we deserved to win."
"It was not exactly what we wanted tonight - but it's a win."