Graham Potter says he is building a "foundation of togetherness" at West Ham after a clinical display helped them beat Fulham in the Premier League for his first win as head coach.

The Hammers were outplayed in the opening exchanges as Harry Wilson hit the bar for the visitors, but then the game swung in three first-half minutes.

Having already had a goal disallowed for offside, West Ham went ahead when Carlos Soler capitalised on a loose pass to curl home.

Moments later, a long ball over the top ended in Aaron Wan-Bissaka cutting back for Tomas Soucek to flick into the roof of the net.

Fulham again hit the bar through Raul Jimenez before Alex Iwobi pulled one back, curling all the way in from the left flank as Jimenez put Lukasz Fabianski under pressure.

West Ham's two-goal advantage was restored when Lucas Paqueta tucked home a loose pass after Danny Ings forced Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno into an error.

Iwobi ensured it was a nervy finish when another cross drifted all the way in.

Fulham had a golden chance to equalise in stoppage time when a cross fell for Adama Traore, but he blazed over the bar from five yards.

"The start point is the foundation of togetherness and the foundation of a team," Potter told BBC Sport.

"We were far from perfect. But in terms of application of the players and how they fought and suffered, they were really, really, good.

"We have to look at the context of what happened and it's been a tough week for the players and we have players missing, especially in the forward areas.

"But nevertheless, the team spirit, the team effort and willingness to try were fantastic."

West Ham climb to 12th - above Manchester United and Tottenham - and 10 points clear of the drop zone.

Fulham, who had been unbeaten in their past eight Premier League games, are ninth.

Potter was beaming with delight as the full-time whistle rang out at the London Stadium.

The former Brighton and Chelsea boss will have had little time to work with his players since taking over on Thursday, but there were already signs of improvement.

All of the pre-match talk was about their desperate search for a striker after the injury suffered by Niclas Fullkrug in Friday's FA Cup defeat by Aston Villa, to add to the absence of Michail Antonio after his car accident.

They were clinical here though, with their four shots resulting in three goals.

Admittedly they were helped twice by Fulham mistakes, but goals from three midfielders will delight Potter.

There will be concerns at the other end of the pitch though, with two goals easily conceded again.

West Ham have the fourth worst defensive record in the Premier League and Potter will have to tighten that up soon if he wants them to climb the table.

Speaking to BBC Sport about Potter's impact, Soucek said: "Things are going very fast with the new manager and the new style.

"I would say I was so happy with how we fought as a team. I didn't see any individuality in the team - I just saw a great squad that fought for each other.

"He has shown us a quite clear message on what style he wants us to play and he's told us we will suffer, and that it is not one quick change from the first day and it will take time."

Ings told TNT Sports that Potter had asked West Ham to be "brave" and that "if you make mistakes, they are mistakes" and it is "about how you react".

For Fulham, this was a case of what might have been. They were very good in the opening 15 minutes but were unable to find the opening goal, and it proved costly.

Their recent run is encouraging, but six of those eight unbeaten league games finished in draws, and sides are starting to pull away in the race for European football.

It might be a night manager Marco Silva is willing to write off as a bad one, because it is hard to legislate for the errors by Andreas Pereira, for the first goal, and then Leno.

The same could be said for Traore's late miss too, which should really have been buried to earn Fulham what would have been a deserved point.