West Ham midfielder Michail Antonio says that the club should be targeting a seventh placed finish next season.
The Hammers endured a roller coaster of a season during the 2016/17 campaign, as they flirted with a relegation battle before ending the season strongly to finish 11th, just a single point off of Southampton in eighth.
This came after a hugely impressive seventh place the season before, which saw Slaven Bilic’s side entered into the Europa League group stages.
Now, midfielder Michail Antonio believes that West Ham should be targeting another seventh placed finish next season, and believes the lack of European football will benefit the side.
He told the London Evening Standard: “That (seventh place) is what we should be looking towards again.
“Without the Europa League games early on that we had the past two years, things won’t be as rushed, we can work on our game plan and on what we need to do in the Premier League.”
The 27-year-old winger signed a new contract in May which is set to keep him at the London Stadium until 2021, after establishing himself as one of the club’s key players.
His impressive performances also earned him a call up to the England squad, although he is yet to make his international debut.
Last season saw him make 37 appearances across all competitions, scoring nine goals and grabbing five assists, which make up half of his 18 goals and 10 assists in his 69 appearances for the club since joining in 2015.
This season Antonio will be joined by former Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta, with the winger telling the Evening Standard that the rest of the squad will “all learn from him” following his arrival as a free agent.