Michail Antonio has claimed “buzzing” West Ham will seal their Premier League survival by beating Liverpool on Wednesday.
And the Jamaica striker said David Moyes’ side can still stage an “unbelievable” finish to a troubled season by winning the Europa Conference League and staying up. After flirting with relegation, the Hammers have now lost only once in 10 matches to recapture the vibrant form of last season to move six points clear of the drop zone.
And the Hammers face AZ Alkmaar in a second consecutive European semi-final next month as they seek a first trophy since 1980. The feel-good factor is in stark contrast with the poor fare served up for most of the campaign. Eight players were involved in the four goals at Bournemouth - including Pablo Fornals’ scorpion kick - to send Hammers fans home happy at the end of an “excellent week” for Moyes.
His side fought back from two down against Arsenal to go on to score 10 goals. And Antonio, who scored the first goal at the Vitality Stadium, said: "It has clicked overall and since the start of the year. We hadn’t been the best overall before that.
“It has been a long hard season, this has settled the boys. It draws us away from the pack giving a cushion away from those in the relegation zone. It's a good turn around from the week and we keep the momentum going as obviously we are trying to win the cup now.
“This last month of the season with the semi-final can become unbelievable, I feel another win secures Premier League for next year. We’re buzzing."
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West Ham now sit in 13th place on 34 points. Declan Rice, who netted his second goal in two games, reckoned they still need two wins from their final seven games to be super safe.
"The benchmark is 40 points, so it is important we don't get too comfortable,” said the England midfielder. “We have Liverpool next and we relish those kinds of nights."
West Ham and Forest are the only two clubs in the bottom half of the table not to change managers during this campaign.
But Moyes, who spent £150m in the summer, said the recent performances of Lucas Paqueta have contributed to the improved displays.
“I think obviously we’ve had to look closely at what we’ve done over the season,” admitted Moyes. “We bought in a lot of new players to develop and become better in certain aspects.
"A lot of it, to be honest, hasn’t worked as well as we’d have liked. Lucas Paqueta got us a really good goal. Probably how he played today was what we bought.
"Over the rest of the season, we’ve not quite as much as that. I thought midweek, he played very well. I think he’s got a wee bit to prove at the moment, but I thought he played very well today.”
