Der Hammer confident side can stay in the top flight

THOMAS HITZLSPERGER claims West Ham can do the double. Stay in the Premier League and make the FA Cup final.

The Hammers are through to face Stoke City in the quarter finals after a resounding 5-1 win over Burnley at Upton Park on Monday night.

The Geman midfielder lived up to his nickname of Der Hammer when he scored from 25 yards out with his major contribution in a West Ham shirt.

It has been a frustrating campaign for Avram Grant’s first signing. The former Lazio man has been forced to watch his side struggle from the sidelines after suffering a thigh injury whilst playing for Germany, just days before the start of the Premier League season.

The Hammers boss claimed Hitzlsperger was one of his most impressive performers in pre-season and now he is back, the 28-year-old has high hopes for the rest of the campaign.

“It wasn’t easy watching the games and seeing the club dropping down into the relegation zone and being there for so long. But we’re still in it, we have enough chances to stay in the league,” he said.

“It’s an interesting task now ahead of us and I want to give my best and hopefully we can get together as a group, see this out and survive and hopefully get to the final.

“We’re in the quarters now so why not think about Wembley. But the league is our priority, we want to stay in the Premier League.

“But in a few weeks time we play Stoke away. That’s a good draw for us, it could have been worse, but it’s not easy, we’re playing at their place, but we are thinking about Wembley, definitely. We just need three points from our next league game first.”

That comes against Liverpool this Sunday at Upton Park. The Reds are on a good run winning four of their last five games, but Hitzlsperger believes his side’s firepower can lead them to victory.

“They’re in good form and it will be a lot harder than tonight. It’s a completely different game. But we’ll be ready for it,” he said.

“With the five goals we’ve scored tonight we should have plenty of confidence and we’re up for it on Sunday, we want to beat them.

“I’m just really looking forward to the next game now. Because it’s been so long I’m here at a great club, you can feel it out there when it gets going and the fans are behind us – it’s just a joy to be in there and I want to enjoy it as long as I can. With a few more wins it’ll be fantastic.”