Andy Carroll admitted the point he snatched for West Ham against Stoke could be vital but insisted: “We’re not safe yet”.
Fit-again striker Carroll climbed off the bench to volley a last-minute equaliser on his first appearance since the turn of the year.
A 1-1 draw left the Hammers seven points above the Premier League drop zone with five games left and, crucially, kept Stoke in the bottom three.
“I thought we played well throughout,” added Carroll. “We took points off them, and it’s a point for us, so it was a good result in the end.
“We’ve still got five games left and we’ve got to win them as no one is safe. It’s tough at the minute and we’ve just got to keep working.”
While it was a great night for Carroll, there was another mistake by Joe Hart.
The goalkeeper’s error led to Stoke taking the lead and could have proved much more costly had Carroll not levelled at the death.
Hammers boss David Moyes said: “He had two similar shots in the first half and took them comfortably, so it was a surprise that it spilled out.
“But if you are a goalkeeper it’s going to happen. Just like last week when he made some fantastic saves at Chelsea I didn’t go over the top.
“I just told him ‘well done’ and now I’ll just tell him he should have done better with that one.”