Captain Mark Noble has admitted he is desperate for West Ham to give Premier League title hopefuls Tottenham a “proper game” when they teams clash tonight at the London Stadium.
Slaven Bilic’s side host bitter London rivals Spurs with both teams keen for the spoils of victory for different reasons. The Hammers seek victory and three points to try to deliver a strong finish while Mauricio Pochettino’s side want to taste triumph in their first visit to the ground to stay in touch with league leaders Chelsea.
And Noble, who will come up against the Lillywhites for the 17th time in his career, says it is vital West Ham secure a win and finish as high as they can in the Premier League standings.
He said: “Hopefully, we’ll play as well as we can do and give Spurs a proper game, because that’s what the fans expect and that’s what we’ll try and give them.
“Spurs want to win the title. They’ve been on Chelsea’s tail the whole season and will want to put them under pressure. They are a very good side without many weaknesses at all, but it’s a derby, we’re at home and we need to be at 100 per cent to be able to get a result.
“We are going to need to be solid tonight because, although Chelsea are top, I think with the way they play and the way they are set up, for me Spurs are the best team in the league at the minute.”
Noble believes he must encourage his team-mates to harness the positivity of the supporters tonight to help them try to win this particular battle.
He added: “We need to channel our energies in a positive way. When the fans are behind us, it helps massively. We’ve got 54,000-odd there tonight and we need to hear every one of them, because Spurs are a top team and are second in the league for a reason. We need every little bit of help we can to get a result.”