There will be issues to fix this summer,but I'll figt to make us stronger

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - DAVID MOYES

- Dan Kilpatrick

DAVID MOYES is realistic enough to know that to make progress, sometimes you need to stay where you are.

His West Ham side defied expectations with a sixth-placed finish last year, but there is pressure for the club to go one better by breaking into the top four, despite competing on an extra front with more or less the same squad this season.

As Moyes prepares for tomorrow’s Europa League clash against the competition’s most successful club, Sevilla, he says matching last season’s League position would constitute progress.

“I see the next step as consolidation of where we are,” Moyes told Standard Sport. “If people say you should be finishing fourth or fifth, that could be ahead of where we are. We’re still building, we’ve got there quickly but we have to try to stay in that position. Our objective is to get to European football again.”

West Ham have never previously reached the knockouts of the Europa League, and the last-16 first leg against the six-time winners is, in itself, a clear sign of progress.

“We’ve probably got the toughest game in the round,” said Moyes. “But in a way that’s what we wanted. We wanted to challenge Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and we want to challenge Sevilla, Barcelona, whoever it is.”

The Scot was speaking after becoming the first person to win Manager of the Year in consecutive seasons at last week’s London Football Awards in Camden.