Stewart Downing has praised the impact of Sam Allardyce after the winger scored West Ham's second goal in their 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace this afternoon.

After the game, Downing revealed that Allardyce has been urging him to shoot more in training and the advice helped him to hit the back of the net today.

"It was very pleasing. We started the game very well. We got two very good goals [in the first half] and we could have had more," Downing told Sky Sports News.

"The manager wants me to get more goals. He wants me to shoot more and get into positions.

"The manager's been stressing in training that I've got to shoot more and try and put it into the corners instead of lashing it. He's got in my head a little bit and it's worked."

Today's win has moved the Hammers up to sixth in the Premier League table.