Carver relieved following near miss

The Magpies knew a win would be enough to save them from the Barclays Premier League drop, and second-half goals from Moussa Sissoko and Jonas Gutierrez ensured survival regardless of Hull's result against Manchester United, which finished goalless.

Carver admitted he was proud of the way his players held their nerve in testing circumstances.

"I think the adrenalin is still pumping, but I have to say I think we dealt with our emotions and we dealt with the game very well," he told Sky Sports.

"In the first half there weren't too many chances and we knew it might take the last five minutes of the game before we could break them down.

"Sam (West Ham boss Allardyce) put his strongest team out and they came and were resolute, but it was all about what we were going to do and I think we put in a performance that was worthy of the victory."

Carver was also pleased to hear owner Mike Ashley say in a pre-match interview that he was keen to continue investing in the club, with his main aim being to see the Magpies win something.

Carver said: "The fact he's saying he wants to win something is fantastic.

"We've seen how good our fans, we've seen what kind of performances we put in altogether and we all have to be together.

"If Mike's come forward then fair play to him because he wants this club to be united. It's a big, big summer for this club, we have to invest and hopefully we will."

The Magpies boss is now hoping he will still be at the helm next season, having been put in charge until the end of the campaign following Alan Pardew's departure.

Carver said: "From day one I've wanted this job and I still want the job. To go through what I've gone through over the last five months, any manager would have found it difficult - experience or no experience.

"This week was tough, I've tried not to show it. It was a build-up to a cup final and we won the cup final, but it would be really nice to say at the end of a season that we've won something.

"We shouldn't be in the position we were in, but we were and we dealt with it."