West Ham picked up a third Premier League victory in four matches with an impressive 3-1 success at Southampton last weekend.

Slaven Bilic’s men fell behind to a debut goal from Manolo Gabbiadini, but goals from Andy Carroll, Pedro Obiang, and Mark Noble secured the three points for the Hammers, and in turn their ninth win of the campaign.

It means that Bilic’s side move up to ninth in the table, and just five points adrift of West Brom in eighth, who they play at the London Stadium on Saturday.

With the fear of relegation banished after a fine run of form, the aim now will surely be to at least replicate last season’s seventh place finish in the Premier League, and potentially grab themselves a European spot come the end of the campaign.

They are currently nine points behind Everton in seventh, but West Ham’s recent form suggests that they could close that gap between now and May.

With still 14 games to go, here are THREE reasons why West Ham will clinch a place in Europe for next season…

Payet situation sorted

Manager Bilic revealed in his pre-Crystal Palace press conference back on January 12 that star man didn’t want to play for the club anymore, and he has subsequently left the London Stadium for £25 million and returned to Marseille.

And you wonder, given that West Ham have been significantly better as a team since Payet’s exclusion and subsequent sale, that the whole Payet situation had been rumbling on for some time, and affected the other players as well.

Since that press conference, the Hammers have won three of their four Premier League matches, and in those three victories, they have played as a team that didn’t need Payet, and one that is actually better off without him.

Ultimately, West Ham have done well in sorting the Payet situation quickly, as it could quite easily have had a knock-on effect for longer than it did, and now they can focus all their energy on closing the gap to the European places.

Bought well in January

Not many Premier League clubs were active in January, but West Ham were certainly one of those that were.

And they did a great job in both getting the players they wanted, as well as letting those go that either don’t want to play for the club or need regular football somewhere else.

The acquisitions of Jose Fonte and Robert Snodgrass were excellent, with defender Fonte having been one of the most reliable in the top-flight over the last few years, and Snodgrass the main reason that Hull haven’t been cut adrift at the bottom of the table.

Both Southampton and Hull will feel those losses, while West Ham are sure to reap the rewards for making very shrewd moves in a bid to bolster the squad.

Obviously, Payet left the club for £25 million, while the highly-rated duo of Toni Martinez and Reece Oxford have been allowed out on loan to Oxford and Reading respectively to accrue first team experience.

All in all, West Ham did it right in January, and have strengthened their squad in a bid to close the gap on the European places between now and May.

Carroll’s return like new signing

West Ham were seriously struggling for goals prior to Andy Carroll’s return from injury, but the England international appears to given the whole club a huge boost since he came back into the side.

The 28-year-old sustained an injury in their Europa League play-off against Astra Giurgiu back in August, and didn’t appear for the Hammers again until their 5-1 defeat to Arsenal on December 3.

However, his return has felt like a new signing, as the former Newcastle and Liverpool forward has scored six goals in just 11 Premier League appearances, including four in his last four games.

His stunning volley against Crystal Palace was indicative of a player full of confidence and enjoying his football, and there’s no coincidence that Carroll’s return to the side has concurred with West Ham’s upturn in form.

They are a much better side with him in it, and if Carroll can stay fit for the rest of the campaign, the Hammers could be knocking on the door of the European places come May.