Manuel Pellegrini praises calm West Ham United for triumph at AFC Wimbledon

Manuel Pellegrini has praised his West Ham United side for keeping calm after going a goal down at AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Cup ahead of turning the second-round tie around.

Joe Pigott headed the League One side into the lead after just two minutes and hung on until the break despite Rodney McDonald's dismissal for two yellow cards on 18 minutes.

Issa Diop eventually drew West Ham level just after the hour mark before Angelo Ogbonna scored the visitors' second, with Javier Hernandez sealing the 3-1 win in injury time.

"Yes, I was worried because you play against these teams that defend really well and then you are losing 1-0 in the first minutes, after working the whole week not to suffer those kinds of goals," Pellegrini told Sky Sports News at full time.

"The most important thing was our application to win this game. I was sure if we continued playing that we would score those goals. The best thing the team did tonight was we kept calm, we continued moving and creating space.

"It's important to win. If we lose this game, that's another consequence - it's very important. We need to continue working and I hope on Saturday we can have our first victory in the Premier League."

The third-round draw for the EFL Cup will take place on Thursday night from 7pm.