Lucas Perez denies he refused to play against Everton

West Ham forward Lucas Perez has denied reports he refused to go on as a substitute against Everton.

The Irons secured a first Premier League victory under new boss Manuel Pellegrini with a 3-1 win at Goodison Park on Sunday.

During the second half, television replays appeared to show Perez, who had just finished his warm-up, not wanting to come on after Marko Arnautovic had gone down in with a knee injury.

Speaking after the match, Pellegrini sought to play down the incident, saying Perez had finished his warm-up and had already gone back to the bench while Michail Antonio – who replaced Arnautovic – was just completing his, so was ready to go on immediately.

Perez, signed from Arsenal during the summer transfer window, issued his own statement via Twitter on Monday afternoon looking to put the record straight.

"Given the false information spread by the media that has affected my image, I am obliged to explain the only truth, I have never ever refused to warm up in my whole career, let alone play a match," he said.

"In my current club the players on the bench warm up in series of three to five minutes, in continuous rotation. In the moment that Marko was injured, I was on the bench after warming up.

"The coach called me to go out to play. However having realised it was faster to substitute Antonio in, who at the moment was warming up, he changed his decision.

"The images that have misinterpreted correspond to a talk with the goalkeeping coach, in which I never refused to warm up and explained what happened.

"As a professional I accept the decision and I will continue working hard to have as many minutes as I can."

The win at Everton lifted the Hammers out of the bottom three.

Irons defender Pablo Zabaleta believes the result and performance will provide a timely confidence boost for the players after a difficult start to life under new manager Pellegrini.

The victory came ahead of a run of matches which will see them face Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham in three of their next four Premier League matches.

After conceding 10 goals in their first four matches and scoring just two the murmurings of discontent were starting to grow but three points at Goodison Park has helped quell that for now.

"Very pleased after four defeats," said Argentinian Zabaleta.

"It was a great game, it was crucial to get three points to lift the confidence of the lads, the manager, everyone."

Zabaleta stressed that despite the early criticism the players never lost faith in Pellegrini's methods.

After spending £100million in the summer, bringing in seven players, it was always likely to take a while for the Chilean to put his stamp on the side.

"We always believed it," added Zabaleta. "Sometimes you have so many players who came in during the summer with a new manager and new style of play you have to find the right team.

"A victory lifts the spirit in the dressing room and we can think about Chelsea (next weekend)."