Despite a poor run of late, West Ham are still in the hunt for a European spot.

West Ham and Burnley are in pole position to qualify for the Europa League this season via the Fair Play Table.

How? What? Why?

Relax. We have all the answers as we break down the process which means the Premier League is likely to receive a bonus place in next year's Europa League and why West Ham and Burnley are leading the race...

What is the Premier League Fair Play Table?

The Premier League Fair Play table factors in much more than just the amount of red and yellow cards picked up by a team. Positive play, respect towards opponents, respect towards match officials and the behaviour of staff in the dugout are all taken into consideration.

Burnley are battling relegation and a place in the Europa League

How and who calculates these factors?

Every Premier League game is watched by a referee's assessor who works alongside a Premier League match delegate and he marks each team on all the above mentioned factors.

The respect towards officials and opponents categories are marked out of seven, with the behaviour of officials marked out of six.

Teams can score a maximum of 10 points for positive play, where attacking tactics and efforts against time-wasting are considered.

How can a team qualify for the Europa League through the Premier League Fair Play Table?

Each UEFA registered league has their own Fair Play Table and the three leagues with the highest combined points total at the end of the campaign gain an extra qualification spot for the Europa League.

The Premier League currently sits third behind the Republic of Ireland and Netherlands.

Which clubs are top of the Premier League Fair Play Table?

At present (last points calculated on March 31), West Ham sit first in the Premier League rankings with 999 points - eight ahead of second-placed Burnley. They are in turn followed by Liverpool (990), Manchester City (986) and Southampton (977) – all of whom look certain to qualify for European football anyway, leaving the top two to battle it out.

Which teams are bottom of the Premier League Fair Play Table?

Sunderland are bottom of the latest standings, with Hull and Aston Villa only scoring marginally better. However, title favourites Chelsea are bottom of the pile when it comes to the individual rankings for attitude towards referees and linesmen and second-worst to Sunderland for the behaviour of their staff during matches.

Have any Premier League teams qualified through these means before?

Yes, Fulham's good behaviour in 2010/11 paid off as they qualified for the following season's Europa League via the Fair Play route. The Cottagers finished ahead of Blackpool by just 0.01 points.

Chelsea topped the Fair Play Table, with Tottenham second and Manchester United third, but as they had all qualified for Europe, Fulham, in fourth, got the spot.

One of the downsides of getting into Europe by this backdoor method is the team in question has to take part in the first qualifying round, which takes place at the start of July.