The manager looks ahead to the final game of the season

West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic held his final pre-match press conference of the season on Friday.



The boss looked ahead to the meeting with Stoke City, spoke of his hopes for European football and more…



Is fifth place realistic?



SB: “Fifth is difficult, It’s the last game of the season and the situation is the same for a few clubs in a few countries. Real Madrid are hoping that Barcelona don’t win their last game – it’s unlikely but when it comes to the last game it’s always possible with the pressure and everything.



“But we shouldn’t be concentrating on that, not even with one ear. We have to do the job, we have a very difficult game because Stoke want to finish on a high and if they win they are breaking their record of points. They have a good team and all we have to do is try to replicate that performance from Tuesday night and win the game.



“If we win the game we will be happy, definitely, because we will be sixth minimum, fifth possibly if Manchester United slip, or fourth if Manchester City lose 25-0!”



What are your reflections of the season as a whole? What moments stand out?



SB: “Now is not the time to talk about that. We have a massive game in front of us, so I’m not ready to analyse the whole season apart to say in once sentence it has been a brilliant season for West Ham United."

Stoke have been on a bad run recently, so how do you rate your chances of winning on Sunday?



SB: “We have a chance because we are a good team. They’ve been on a bad run but I’ve watched their games and it’s been more like they’ve been playing teams who have been on fire.



“They’ve conceded three or four goals in a couple of games, but on their day they are capable. Against Spurs, in the first half Stoke were quite unlucky, and ok they lost to Palace and drew with Sunderland, but I didn’t see a dip in their energy.



“They are a good team, who have a few individuals who can harm you – Arnautovic, Bojan, Shaqiri, Diouf, Walters, Crouch. They have good players, and unfortunately we are expecting a difficult game and we will have to be on top of our game to do the job."