West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has set his sights on an eighth-place finish in the Premier League, claiming that ending the season as high as sixth would be an achievement equal to winning the title.
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The Hammers, currently in Dubai for a warm weather training camp, were eliminated from the FA Cup last weekend after a 4-0 hammering by West Brom.
But despite being out of the Cup, Allardyce’s side are enjoying a good league campaign – currently sitting in 10th position.
It could have been even better, too, with the Hammers in fourth place at Christmas – their highest position at that time since 1985.
Their form dipped at the turn of the year and the East Londoners have won two and drawn six of their last 13 games.
Allardyce is realistic about the capabilities of his side, but is targeting a strong finish to the season.
“West Ham at the very maximum are a top-six side,” he told Sport360 at Dubai Sports City. “If we finish sixth, that’s like us winning the Premier League. There’s no doubt about that.
“Eighth for us is more achievable. We should already be there. We should have achieved a lot more points, but we haven’t. That then shows you the frailty of the squad.
The West Ham squad are in Dubai and are training at @DxbSportsCity. They seem relaxed in the heat #westham #whufc pic.twitter.com/1k9zXlXLZc
— Scotty G (@ScottyGrayston) March 9, 2015
“Our performances have been excellent but our victories have turned into draws and this had made us slip down the league a little bit.”
“For now it’s about the last 10 games, securing as many points as possible and trying to hit the target of eighth in the league.”
In recent years Dubai has been the prime spot for Allardyce to take his players in the winter breaks and ‘Big Sam’ hopes this vacation will rejuvenate his squad ahead of the run-in.
Pictures from West Ham’s warm weather Dubai training camp. #WHUFC pic.twitter.com/TB6m0OOH17
— West Ham News (@WHUFC_News) March 9, 2015
“Everything has been as perfect as always [in Dubai],” Allardyce said. “We have been doing this trip for many years and every time we get back to England we always see an increase in the physical output of the players.
“Everybody enjoys training in this climate rather than the cold weather back in England. Hopefully it has served its purpose again and we will have some very good results when we return to England.”
