Bilic aiming for top six and Europe

  • by Staff Writer
  • Thursday, 28th April 2016

Slaven Bilic has admitted that his aim for the remainder of this season is to finish in the top six of the Premier League - and hopefully qualify for Europe.

Bilic - whose team need just two points from their remaining four matches to better West Ham United's record tally of 57 points from a 38-game season - is hoping to become the first Irons boss to finish in the top six since Harry Redknapp's 1988/99 squad finished fifth.

"Yes, it is a target - and it’s been our target for quite a while now," he said during a media briefing.

"It wasn’t a target at the beginning of the season, but with four games to go we have a little gap. We can’t afford not to win game or lose games but top six is what we’re looking for now.

"It's going to be hard as we have four really tough games and both Liverpool and Southampton are playing well and picking up points. But, we’re unbeaten in the Premier League for a while, on a good run and we are fully motivated.

"We're good and if we continue to play well in our last games, we have a good chance."

West Ham will qualify for a Europe League spot should they end the season in the top six. However a Manchester United win in next month's FA Cup Final would result in an additional Euopean spot becoming available, due to the Reds being on the verge of qualifying for Europe via their league position.

Bilic admitted that he would be backing Louis Van Gaal's side in next month's Wembley showpiece as a result - even though he hopes to have everything wrapped up by that point.

"I would like to see them win it because it would give us a bit of a cushion," he added, when questioned on the subject.

"The good thing though is that everything is in our hands - and I would rather we did it ourselves that have to wait until a week after the season and wear red scarves and flags and be Man United fans!

"I don't want to talk about it like it's happened already, let's try to do it first. That's all I can promise. It is in our hands but there's four games to go and it can very easily slip out of our hands. But, it would be great."

* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.



More News