Peter Grant insists that Hammers will be doing everything
in their power to end the Premiership campaign on a high with
victory against Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon.
With one eye on next week's FA Cup final, outsiders have suggested that Alan Pardew's team will perhaps be lacking in motivation for the visit of Spurs - but our assistant manager says that nothing could be further from the truth.
"It's very simple - the most important thing in football is winning," he says. "We want to finish the season on a high and that will mean beating Tottenham at Upton Park on Sunday.
"I've said it many times this season, we go into every match with the same attitude and ambition - to win. Things will be no different against Spurs and that is the biggest game in front of us right now
"This group of players deserve to be in the top half of the Premiership after the way they have performed this season and it would have been a big disappointment if we had dropped out of that position.
"We had an excellent result at West Brom on Monday night and the players want to continue that momentum against Tottenham because, as we know, our season doesn't finish until next week."
And while the media focus may be on Tottenham's chase for a fourth-place finish above their deadly rivals Arsenal that could secure Champions League football next season, Peter admits that Hammers are fully aware of what a victory over Martin Jol's men would mean to the Upton Park faithful.
"Yes, it's a big game for Tottenham, but it's also a big game for us and our supporters," he says. "It's similar to what I experienced with Celtic and Rangers, it doesn't matter if it's the last game of the season, the first game of the season, or a pre-season friendly - the supporters want to win and get one over on their rivals.
"We want to be professional and make sure that Tottenham know they have been in a game. It has been a fantastic season so far, and this is an opportunity to round it off in the perfect way, with a victory at Upton Park that could see us finish in eighth place.
"That would be a tremendous way to go into the cup final - knowing that we had finished our Premiership campaign on such a high."
With one eye on next week's FA Cup final, outsiders have suggested that Alan Pardew's team will perhaps be lacking in motivation for the visit of Spurs - but our assistant manager says that nothing could be further from the truth.
"It's very simple - the most important thing in football is winning," he says. "We want to finish the season on a high and that will mean beating Tottenham at Upton Park on Sunday.
"I've said it many times this season, we go into every match with the same attitude and ambition - to win. Things will be no different against Spurs and that is the biggest game in front of us right now
"This group of players deserve to be in the top half of the Premiership after the way they have performed this season and it would have been a big disappointment if we had dropped out of that position.
"We had an excellent result at West Brom on Monday night and the players want to continue that momentum against Tottenham because, as we know, our season doesn't finish until next week."
And while the media focus may be on Tottenham's chase for a fourth-place finish above their deadly rivals Arsenal that could secure Champions League football next season, Peter admits that Hammers are fully aware of what a victory over Martin Jol's men would mean to the Upton Park faithful.
"Yes, it's a big game for Tottenham, but it's also a big game for us and our supporters," he says. "It's similar to what I experienced with Celtic and Rangers, it doesn't matter if it's the last game of the season, the first game of the season, or a pre-season friendly - the supporters want to win and get one over on their rivals.
"We want to be professional and make sure that Tottenham know they have been in a game. It has been a fantastic season so far, and this is an opportunity to round it off in the perfect way, with a victory at Upton Park that could see us finish in eighth place.
"That would be a tremendous way to go into the cup final - knowing that we had finished our Premiership campaign on such a high."