Speaking prior to the game with Manchester City on Saturday the Hammers boss told how his aim this season was always to finish mid-table.
“I think that I said from the very start that our goal was to try and finish around mid-table. I always felt that tenth was the highest possible position for this year. It would be great to try and achieve it. We’re there with four games to go.
“We’ve not been lower than 14th all season, so it shows the consistency really, that the players have shown. Like every team, in some period of the season we went several games with only one win. That happens to everyone who’s in and around that area of the Premier League and, of course, if it’s only one period then it’s not too bad.
“We haven’t done that apart from around December and January, so we’ve come out of that bleak spell and now we’re moving into the final throes of the season in a very comfortable position. And I think we can enjoy and relax without detracting from performance. In fact, I’m hoping that it will enhance the lads to perform even better than they’ve already done. While we’re not mathematically safe, it’s going to be very difficult for the teams below us to catch us and put us into a relegation-threatened position.”