West Ham United midfielder Mark Noble feels that his side’s draws against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United after having the measure of both the sides, have undermined their challenge for a spot in Europe next season.
The Hammers started the season strongly and for large stretches of the campaign were among the top four in the league, fuelling hopes of finding a place among European elite next season, but their form has deserted them of late.
Sam Allardyce’s side have won only once in their last ten Premier League outings and are winless in their last seven, a run of form that has seen them slip to tenth in the table and their challenge for Europe fast petering out.
In February, the Hammers drew against Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur after conceding very goals late in both matches and Noble feels that the two draws from winning positions have effectively cost the Londoners their European dreams.
“In the last month or so, we’ve been seconds away from six points and ended up with only a couple, and it would be a whole different season if we’d beaten Spurs away and Manchester United at home”, the midfielder told the West Ham site.
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“That would be another four points on the board and we’d still be looking at a firm spot in Europe.”
Noble, who extended his Hammers stay until the summer of 2020 last month, feels that their upcoming fixtures are against teams below West Ham, which the Londoners are expected to win.
“Now, we’ve got games against teams below us and we need to win them.”
West Ham will look to collect all three points when they play relegation threatened Sunderland in their next Premier League outing on Saturday.
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