‘West Ham can compete for Champions League place’

West Ham defender, Ben Johnson, is convinced they can compete for a Champions League place after their recent remarkable outing.

The Hammers beat Sheffield United 3-0 last night and moved into the top four briefly before Chelsea leapfrogged them by beating Newcastle 2-0.

“Our confidence is growing with each and every game, as you collect points you go into every game with more confidence and with an extra buzz,” Johnson told the London Evening Standard.

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“The calibre of player we have is at a top-level, we have a lot of internationals and if you look at the games we have lost, some of the results have flattered the opposition and we should have got something. That is against the big teams.

“Liverpool away we should have got something, Arsenal were lucky to get a win from us. We’re confident to go toe-to-toe with teams and the manager has us setup that we’ll never go out to get a draw.

“We’ve definitely learned to play like a top team. We brought in Tomas and Vlad [Coufal], the manager has converted Michail to a top centre forward. We have a strong defensive line and that completes the jigsaw puzzle.

“This season from game number one you don’t expect to be where we are, if someone had said we’d be here you’d bite their hand off, but with the players we have – and I know the way we train – it’s not much of a surprise. I can’t really say much, we’re just happy to be in that half and being involved with the big boys is a really good feeling.”