Manuel Pellegrini was quick to praise West Ham captain Mark Noble after his game changing introduction as the Hammers bounced back from two goals down to take a point against a solid Brighton .
The hosts, looking to start 2019 with a win having closed out 2018 with defeat at Burnley, struggled to break through Chris Hughton's side in a dire first half and needed to respond after two goals in two second half minutes saw the south coast side ahead at London Stadium.
Pellegrini looked to the bench and sent club captain Noble and Michail Antonio on.
The midfielder, who saw his contract extended by a year to 2021 last month, played a wonderful pass to lay on Marko Arnautovic for the Austrian's first before fellow substitute Antonio set up the second.
"31 is not old, he has a couple of years more, renewed his contract and was one of the players I wanted to rest," Pellegrini said.
"He continues to be captain, his personality is important for this club on the pitch and off it because Mark is always giving the best of himself."
While Pellegrini was impressed with the impact of Noble, goalscorer Arnautovic has admitted he can't be happy with a brace given the overall performance on Wednesday night.
“I can’t be happy," the Austrian told BBC Sport.
"Obviously we talked about wanting to win at home. First half was a boring game from both sides, second half they had two set-pieces and after those we started to play football.
“With a bit of luck we can take a win away, but we didn’t and it was a fair draw.”
