West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce is confident that his side are not in danger of getting pulled into a relegation battle, despite it being mathematically possible.

The Hammers, who are currently six points away from the bottom three on 37 points, are aiming to surpass 40 by the end of the season to ensure safety.

"I know mathematically people will say we can still be caught and somebody could still overtake us, but I find it difficult to believe that anybody would," the Daily Echo quotes Allardyce as saying.

"Over the 20-odd years [of the Premier League] there are only a few cases of teams going down with 40 [or more], but it has been a long time since that was actually the case."

West Ham can reach the 40-point mark with a victory over Southampton in tomorrow's encounter.