Slaven Bilic has likened West Ham's push for Champions League football to approaching a girl in a nightclub after saying the Hammers must be confident and positive if they want to end the campaign in the top four.

West Ham currently sit in fifth place in the Premier League table, just a point off fourth-placed Tottenham, following their comeback victory over Bournemouth in midweek, which means the east London side are now unbeaten in eight top-flight matches.

With the Hammers set to face Newcastle on Saturday afternoon, Bilic has said his team must be confident if they want to secure European football for when the club moves to the Olympic Stadium next season, and insisted any negativity would see West Ham fail in their aim.

"If you take a driving test and say 'I can't do it' of course you'll fail," he said.

"If you're approaching a girl in a nightclub and you think she's gonna tell you off and all that, no chance.

"But if you're positive, you have a chance for the Champions League or whatever - top ten or staying up."

Bournemouth vs West Ham: Player ratings 11 show all Bournemouth vs West Ham: Player ratings 1/11 Adrian: 6 Will be disappointed to have dived early and not keep out Arter's goal, although he did get a hand to the shot. Made up for the error with a fine save immediately after and another in the second half. But showed some sloppiness when he cleared a kick straight to a Bournemouth player after the break. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images 2/11 James Tomkins: 7 Enjoyed a solid game at right back, clearing the danger whenever it presented itself. Could have capped off a good display with a goal, but saw his acrobatic effort fly just over the bar. Was replaced by Jenkinson with 30 minutes to go.



Carl Jenkinson: 6 Came on at the 60-minute mark for Tomkins and injected pace down the right flank and sent in more crosses into the area for West Ham's forwards as they looked to get back into the match. Steve Bardens/Getty Images 3/11 James Collins: 6 Didn't prove as solid at the heart of West Ham's defence as he would have liked and, at times, struggled to deal with the strength of Afobe. But he remained undeterred and did well to remain focused with Ogbonna often going forwards. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 4/11 Angelo Ogbonna: 5 Did well to pressurise Afobe as he attempted to head in the Cherries' second of the night, but then disappointed when he showed a lack of pressing on another occasion with the Bournemouth striker through on goal. Nearly gave away a late penalty for a handball in the area. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 5/11 Aaron Cresswell: 6 Should have pressurised Surman more before the Cherries man slipped Arter the pass from which the opener arrived but he showed good attacking intent throughout the game. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images 6/11 Mark Noble: 6 The Hammers captain fluffed an early chance to give West Ham the lead but lifted his shot high before he then failed to stop Arter from scoring with his sliding challenge. However, he made up for it with a fine tackle in the second half which put a halt to a promising Bournemouth counter. Ian Walton/Getty Images 7/11 Pedro Obiang: 5 Didn't show enough urgency to control proceedings in the middle of the park, which allowed Bournemouth to carve out several chances in the first half. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 8/11 Michail Antonio: 6 Was denied a goal in the early stages of the clash after pressure from Bournemouth's defence, but he regularly used his strength to test Bournemouth's back line. A promising performance. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 9/11 Dimitri Payet: 8 Made his first start for the Hammers since returning from an ankle injury, and created several chances for his teammates - including when he delivered a fine through-ball that Valencia should have fired in. His hard work, which included tracking back and defending, was rewarded when he equalised with a superb free kick and then turned provider with some superb trickery to set up Valencia. A fine showing.



Alex Song: 5 Replaced Payet but endured a quiet cameo appearance. Steve Welsh/Getty Images 10/11 Enner Valencia: 8 Had little impact for much of the match and was caught offside early on, which undid some fine work form Antonio before his heavy touch ruined a brilliant chance created by Payet. However, he made up for his initial quiet showing by firing in the France international's ball and netting a sublime free kick to ensure the win. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 11/11 Andy Carroll: 5 Was strong and assertive early on and those attributes, along with his pace, nearly created a goal for Antonio after he outpaced Cook. However, the striker saw his game cut short after just 11 minutes because of an apparent knee injury, which will be a huge blow for Bilic and indeed the player himself.



Nikica Jelavic: 5 Replaced Carroll early on but, aside from one shot that nearly deflected into the goal, failed to have an impact. Clive Rose/Getty Images 1/11 Adrian: 6 Will be disappointed to have dived early and not keep out Arter's goal, although he did get a hand to the shot. Made up for the error with a fine save immediately after and another in the second half. But showed some sloppiness when he cleared a kick straight to a Bournemouth player after the break. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images 2/11 James Tomkins: 7 Enjoyed a solid game at right back, clearing the danger whenever it presented itself. Could have capped off a good display with a goal, but saw his acrobatic effort fly just over the bar. Was replaced by Jenkinson with 30 minutes to go.



Carl Jenkinson: 6 Came on at the 60-minute mark for Tomkins and injected pace down the right flank and sent in more crosses into the area for West Ham's forwards as they looked to get back into the match. Steve Bardens/Getty Images 3/11 James Collins: 6 Didn't prove as solid at the heart of West Ham's defence as he would have liked and, at times, struggled to deal with the strength of Afobe. But he remained undeterred and did well to remain focused with Ogbonna often going forwards. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 4/11 Angelo Ogbonna: 5 Did well to pressurise Afobe as he attempted to head in the Cherries' second of the night, but then disappointed when he showed a lack of pressing on another occasion with the Bournemouth striker through on goal. Nearly gave away a late penalty for a handball in the area. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 5/11 Aaron Cresswell: 6 Should have pressurised Surman more before the Cherries man slipped Arter the pass from which the opener arrived but he showed good attacking intent throughout the game. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images 6/11 Mark Noble: 6 The Hammers captain fluffed an early chance to give West Ham the lead but lifted his shot high before he then failed to stop Arter from scoring with his sliding challenge. However, he made up for it with a fine tackle in the second half which put a halt to a promising Bournemouth counter. Ian Walton/Getty Images 7/11 Pedro Obiang: 5 Didn't show enough urgency to control proceedings in the middle of the park, which allowed Bournemouth to carve out several chances in the first half. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 8/11 Michail Antonio: 6 Was denied a goal in the early stages of the clash after pressure from Bournemouth's defence, but he regularly used his strength to test Bournemouth's back line. A promising performance. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 9/11 Dimitri Payet: 8 Made his first start for the Hammers since returning from an ankle injury, and created several chances for his teammates - including when he delivered a fine through-ball that Valencia should have fired in. His hard work, which included tracking back and defending, was rewarded when he equalised with a superb free kick and then turned provider with some superb trickery to set up Valencia. A fine showing.



Alex Song: 5 Replaced Payet but endured a quiet cameo appearance. Steve Welsh/Getty Images 10/11 Enner Valencia: 8 Had little impact for much of the match and was caught offside early on, which undid some fine work form Antonio before his heavy touch ruined a brilliant chance created by Payet. However, he made up for his initial quiet showing by firing in the France international's ball and netting a sublime free kick to ensure the win. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images 11/11 Andy Carroll: 5 Was strong and assertive early on and those attributes, along with his pace, nearly created a goal for Antonio after he outpaced Cook. However, the striker saw his game cut short after just 11 minutes because of an apparent knee injury, which will be a huge blow for Bilic and indeed the player himself.



Nikica Jelavic: 5 Replaced Carroll early on but, aside from one shot that nearly deflected into the goal, failed to have an impact. Clive Rose/Getty Images

Despite having impressed this season, Bilic added his players are not getting ahead of themselves and are only focusing on picking up three points against Steve McClaren's side at St James' Park.

When asked if he believed the Hammers could make the top four come May, he said: "I have no problem saying that, but we're not thinking that way.

"If you ask me if we are thinking about it realistically and starting to be a little bit big-headed about the Champions League, no, we're not.

"You do not become a big club because you say big things - that won't make you a top-five club. We have to believe in ourselves but we are not believing we can make the Champions League.

"We are believing we can win or draw against Newcastle on Saturday."