West Ham United have recorded their first away win since November this afternoon with a 1-0 success over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

© PA Photos

West Ham were nearly caught napping in the early stages as James Collins miscued a back-pass to Jussi Jaaskalinen.

Stoke piled on the pressure from the following corner but Michael Kightly spurned a chance to give the home side a quick lead.

Sam Allardyce was forced to make two changes inside the first 15 minutes due to injuries.

First Peter Crouch attempted an acrobatic volley but made contact with Matthew Taylor, who had to be helped off after being knocked to the ground.

As Jack Collison came on, Joe Cole also hobbled off with a problem and was replaced by Ricardo Vaz Te.

The Hammers responded well to the early change in personnel and hit the crossbar soon after with a glancing header from Collins.

Andy Carroll failed to test Asmir Begovic with a header from close range just before the break as Stoke struggled to create chances.

West Ham finally took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Collison turned home with an assured finish.

Stoke wanted a penalty almost immediately after the break when Cameron Jerome went down in the area, but his protests were waved away.

Crouch then forced Jaaskalinen to make a save from close range as the home side gradually improved.

A Charlie Adam strike cannoned off the crossbar in stoppage time but West Ham survived to take all three points back to East London.