The Hammers are 11th in the Premier League table and face Chelsea away on Monday night.
Declan Rice has commented on something that West Ham United have failed to do all season in the Premier League when given the opportunity but is hoping that the players can rise to the occasion starting away at Chelsea on Monday night.
At the start of next week, the Hammers – who sit 11th in the table and will be hoping to crack the top half – will head across London to Stamford Bridge to face a side currently fifth in the standings and hoping to seal a top four finish.
West Ham have been beset with inconsistency for much of the season, with such impressive results as September’s 3-1 win over Manchester United or the 1-0 triumph against Arsenal in January offset by bad results like March’s 2-0 loss at Cardiff City.
Indeed, the Hammers’ form over the last five league games reads LWLWL, and Rice admits that he and his teammates have failed to grab a number of opportunities they have had to break into the top seven this season.
However, the 20-year-old is optimistic that the players have turned a new page and will set about to face Chelsea on Monday night with a renewed desire to aim for bigger and better things as the campaign edges into the business end.
“Every chance we’ve had to go seventh this season, we haven’t taken that opportunity,” Rice told the official West Ham website. “It kind of shows where we’re at. We need to be aiming for bigger things and, with the squad we’ve got, we need to finish higher than what we have done in recent years.
“This has been a fresh week. We’ve turned a new page and we’re looking forward to the game. The manager has been on at us to have a big mentality and a strong mentality. We want to aim big. We have to start taking our opportunities.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
