Sam Allardyce tells jeering West Ham fans 'sometimes you have to win ugly' in personal letter

The Hammers were booed off last night despite picking up three points against Hull City

Sam Allardyce responds to West ham fans booing at the final whistle of their 2-1 victory over Hull (Getty Images)

Sam Allardyce has sent a personal email to West Ham fans addressing last night's victory that was overshadowed by jeering supporters.

The Hammers boosted their hopes of Premier Leagee survival with a crucial victory over Hull City, but many supporters were frustrated with the manner of the win, particular with the visitors reduced to 10-men for much of the match.

At the final whistle, many of the home supporters booed the team off, something that left Allardyce perplexed: "I've not experienced that before in the time I've been in the game," he said immediately after the game.

The West Ham manager, who since taking over at the club won promotion to the Premier League in his first season and secured a 10th place finish on their return to the top flight last season, today sent an email to fans explaining the result.

With the subject line, "We're aiming to get results wherever we go", Allardyce labelled yesterday's victory "a very unusual night" as well as telling fans "sometimes we need to win ugly".

"I think that we had a very unusual night during the 2-1 win against Hull City," begins the email. "For the first time this season, we had to play against ten men. Where normally we've had to play with ten men this year and won, last night the opposition have gone down to ten men and not won, and I think everyone should really remember that."

Allardyce then looks to explain the manner of the result to supporters.

"The three defeats on the trot made us a bit tentative out there, but we got what we needed and that's a big three points against one of our rivals in the table. We've gone above them now and they're behind us and that was the critical point of what this game was all about."

"It wasn't about anything else other than winning the game and if we could have won with a lot more flair and ability, that would have been fine, but sometimes you have to win ugly. When we all woke up this morning, we knew we are that much closer to surviving in this great league for another year and trying to build on what we've done over the last two years."

Last night's victory has the Hammers within three points of the top half of the table and takes them nine points clear of the relegation zone. Tough games await Allardyce's side, including Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City before the season is out. However the Hammers' manager believes his side are on course to survive if they go into the final matches with the right mentality.

"We've got a bit to go still and we've got to focus and concentrate, but that was a massive three points for us. The big one is that we have played 31 games and got 34 points and the distance between games played and points is critical. If we stay three points ahead between now and the end of the season, we know we're going to be safe.

"We're aiming to get results wherever we go, starting with Sunderland on Monday night, then back at the Boleyn Ground against Liverpool after that."