West Ham United's No11 believes West Ham United can still force their way into the UEFA Europa League places
Stewart Downing says ‘Europe is still an option’ after West Ham United ground out a 1-0 Barclays Premier League win over Sunderland.
A first win in eight league matches lifted the Hammers back above Stoke City into ninth place on 42 points with eight games still to play.
With six of those eight against teams currently in the bottom half, Downing is seeking a strong finish that could see West Ham sneak into the UEFA Europa League places. Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce’s side are still top of the Premier League Fair Play Table, the Club may have a secondary route into continental competition too.
“All teams have dips in the season and ours was over the period we’ve just had,” said the midfielder. “The most important thing was winning and I feel it can put us onto another streak like we had before.
“Obviously you can’t play well every week and I don’t think it was about that on Saturday, it was just about getting the points.
“We’re ninth with a lot to play for. We have still got Stoke to play and we’ve got Leicester away next, so there are a lot of winnable games for us to pick up points from and Europe is still an option.
“I think Europe is still there. If you look at the games we have got to play, I think there are a lot of points to pick up. You keep going right to the end, because a lot of the teams have nothing to play for and they switch off and that’s not our aim.
“Our aim this year is to get in Europe. I don’t think tenth place is good enough. We need to aim higher than that and I think we’ve got the players to do it.”
A first win in eight league matches lifted the Hammers back above Stoke City into ninth place on 42 points with eight games still to play.
With six of those eight against teams currently in the bottom half, Downing is seeking a strong finish that could see West Ham sneak into the UEFA Europa League places. Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce’s side are still top of the Premier League Fair Play Table, the Club may have a secondary route into continental competition too.
“All teams have dips in the season and ours was over the period we’ve just had,” said the midfielder. “The most important thing was winning and I feel it can put us onto another streak like we had before.
“Obviously you can’t play well every week and I don’t think it was about that on Saturday, it was just about getting the points.
“We’re ninth with a lot to play for. We have still got Stoke to play and we’ve got Leicester away next, so there are a lot of winnable games for us to pick up points from and Europe is still an option.
“I think Europe is still there. If you look at the games we have got to play, I think there are a lot of points to pick up. You keep going right to the end, because a lot of the teams have nothing to play for and they switch off and that’s not our aim.
“Our aim this year is to get in Europe. I don’t think tenth place is good enough. We need to aim higher than that and I think we’ve got the players to do it.”
Our aim this year is to get in Europe. I don’t think tenth place is good enough. We need to aim higher than that and I think we’ve got the players to do it
Focusing on Saturday’s victory, which was secured through Diafra Sakho’s neatly-taken 88th-minute strike, Downing felt West Ham were value for the three points.
At times, Sunderland made things frustratingly difficult for the home side in their first match under new head coach Dick Advocaat, but thanks in part to Downing’s all-round performance in a variety of positions, the hosts finally made the breakthrough.
“I think it was just one of those games,” said the No11. “They’ve been struggling and we’ve been on a bad run, so it was just about getting the win. The goal came at a good time and it was a great finish. I’m not sure if it was a foul [by Nene], but it was a great finish.
“It was difficult for us because they put men behind the ball and tried to hit us on the counter, so it was hard for us to get through them at times. Obviously they’ve got bid lads at the back, so we tried to change the system and get in behind them a bit more.
“We got a bit of luck but I think we were due a little bit. We were better in the second half, definitely, and looked more likely to score and Sakho got the all-important goal at the end, which was massive for us.”
At times, Sunderland made things frustratingly difficult for the home side in their first match under new head coach Dick Advocaat, but thanks in part to Downing’s all-round performance in a variety of positions, the hosts finally made the breakthrough.
“I think it was just one of those games,” said the No11. “They’ve been struggling and we’ve been on a bad run, so it was just about getting the win. The goal came at a good time and it was a great finish. I’m not sure if it was a foul [by Nene], but it was a great finish.
“It was difficult for us because they put men behind the ball and tried to hit us on the counter, so it was hard for us to get through them at times. Obviously they’ve got bid lads at the back, so we tried to change the system and get in behind them a bit more.
“We got a bit of luck but I think we were due a little bit. We were better in the second half, definitely, and looked more likely to score and Sakho got the all-important goal at the end, which was massive for us.”