David Moyes says Sunday’s superb comeback against Arsenal has given West Ham a “shot in the arm” ahead of Thursday’s clash with Gent, but warned there are still obstacles to be overcome in his side’s season-long “Grand National”.
The Hammers produced arguably their best performance of the season to come from 2-0 down against the Premier League leaders, with Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen scoring either side of half-time.
That result - and display - has eased fears of relegation, with the Irons now four points clear of the drop with a game in hand on all of their rivals.
It has also given Moyes’s men some much needed momentum heading into Thursday night’s Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg against Gent, with the sides level at 1-1 after last week’s reverse in Belgium.
“I think we’ve given ourselves a real boost, a real shot in the arm,” Moyes said. “Our levels at Arsenal compared to Thursday night were hugely different.
“The performance gave everyone a lift, because we played much better than we have done. We hope it gives us a lift going into this game now on Thursday. If we can perform at those levels we give ourselves a great chance of qualifying for a semi-final.”
Having struggled for form throughout the campaign, West Ham have looked more like the team of old in recent weeks, with Moyes reverting to the counter-attacking style that has served the club well over the past two seasons.
Despite having spent most of the year looking over their shoulders, the Irons could yet end the campaign with Premier League survival and an historic European trophy.
“I’ve been here twice before when we’ve had to get ourselves out of a difficult league position,” the Scot added. “There’s a way you have to get that job done.
“Expectations then were that we wanted to be a different type [of team] but we’ve not reached those expectations, so we have to find a way to win, get results. We’ve started to show signs of that, and we’re going to have to continue that until the end of the season.
“We’ve got the last few hurdles of the Grand National to go now. We’ve got to keep at it, keep going, get over the next few jumps and then hopefully you can see the finish line.”
