David Moyes confident West Ham can finish the Premier League on a high

David Moyes sets new West Ham demand after Europa League heartbreak

West Ham were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night after a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen, and David Moyes is now targeting a strong Premier League finish

19 Apr 2024, 13:30 by Bruna Reis · football.london

West Ham boss David Moyes has set his sights on a strong Premier League finish to ensure the Hammers book another European tour, despite their recent Europa League exit.

The Irons' European journey was halted at the quarter-final stage by Bayer Leverkusen, who managed a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium, progressing with a 3-1 aggregate win. Having entered this season's fray as Europa Conference League champions, Moyes is keen for West Ham to prove their progress by clinching a European spot through their league standing.

In his press conference, Moyes expressed his ambition: "We would love to do it again, we really would but you have to remember last year we did it by winning a trophy, it wasn't our league position last year."

He highlighted the team's improvement, saying: "Our league position this year has improved greatly. We've been challenging nearly all season, we've been around the top seven or eight all season."

Acknowledging the challenge ahead, Moyes remained optimistic about their chances: "Obviously we know the level of the games we've got, we know the level of the opponents who are challenging as well for those European positions, so it will be tough. If we can get back to Europe again, I think it would be great."

Midfielder James Ward-Prowse echoed his manager's sentiments. He added: "The club has proven over the years that it deserves to be on the European stage. Now it's up to us as players to deliver that there's no reason why we can't.

"We've worked very hard to get to where we are now and we want to make sure we finish the season as well as we can. You look around the changing room we've got world-class players in there, so it's up to us to deliver that for the fans and for the club."

Despite the sting of Thursday night's European exit, Moyes remained resolute, offering a balanced view while acknowledging the quality of their opponents. He continued: "In any cup competition, you need the draws to be favourable for you. Our draw against Leverkusen was one of the toughest we thought we could get in the quarter-finals."

With domestic duties calling, Moyes confirmed team news ahead of Sunday's clash with Crystal Palace, with Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri back from suspensions.

Moyes said: "They [Palace] had a brilliant win last week against Liverpool, which is very difficult to do. We'll go there and we need to win now.

"We want to try to win all out games. It's hard to put any different spin on it, that's exactly what we need to do, and we'll try to go there and get a result."