West Ham boss David Moyes insists his priority remains the Premier League despite the club’s heroics in Europe.
The Hammers secured a first continental quarter-final in 41 years when they dumped six-time winners Sevilla out of the Europa League on Thursday night.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, West Ham hauled themselves level through Tomas Soucek’s header and then won it in extra-time thanks to Andriy Yarmolenko’s strike.
It was a euphoric, historic night for the Hammers, but they head straight back to the day job on Sunday with a derby trip to top-six rivals Tottenham.
“They’re all important, whether it is a team at the bottom or the top,” said Moyes.
“It’s a derby for West Ham and Tottenham, so we know it’ll be a difficult game.
“Where you finish in the league gets you the chance to qualify for Europe. It’s your bread and butter as far as I’m concerned.
“Being in cup competitions adds to what we’re trying to do and teaches us how to make strides forward.
“At the moment, we’ve got a big game coming up – it’s a hard game – and we know we’re going to be tested to the maximum.”
A trip to Spurs looks a tough ask for a thin squad who came through 120 intense minutes just three days earlier.
Michail Antonio, an injury doubt beforehand, only came off very late into extra-time, while Declan Rice was limping towards the end.
“We have a few limping, but you expect that after a tough game,” added Moyes.
“We’ll assess them all and see how they are. It’s a bit early to know a lot about the team.
“We’re a resilient group of players and we hope that we’ll all be fine and we’ll go again.
“I think an extra day (off) would help anybody, but we’re pleased we’re in the Europa League and that we’ve qualified.
“I’d have taken that any day and now we’ll get ready for the Tottenham game.”
