West Ham United midfielder Stewart Downing has claimed that the Hammers can finish above Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League this season.

Sam Allardyce's side currently sit eighth in the table, five points adrift of sixth-placed Spurs.

The two sides meet at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon, and Downing is confident that West Ham are capable of sustaining their challenge for European football.

"If we get a good result against Tottenham, we can put it to bed and have a good finish to the season," FourFourTwo quotes him as saying. "If you told the fans we get knocked out of the cup but finish in Europe, they will take that.

"We owe Tottenham one after they beat us in the last minute on the opening day of the season, and I don't accept they're going to finish above us.

"They spent a lot of money and man-for-man I don't think they're any better than us. We don't want to waste all the good work, and all the top teams we've beaten, over the first six months of the season."

A stoppage-time goal saw Spurs beat the Hammers 1-0 on the opening day of the campaign back in August.