West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has stated that his side's "first target" is to reach 40 points ahead of Saturday's clash with West Bromwich Albion.

Target to reach

It has been a poor season for the Hammers, but they seem to be on the rise again after another heavy defeat with the 4-0 loss to Manchester City.

They bounced back last Saturday with the 3-1 win over Southampton, but will face a tough test on Saturday with Tony Pulis' side visiting the London Stadium.

Bilic praised the Baggies performances this season, but insisted that he and the side are focused on their target of reaching the desired point mark.

“They are doing great," Bilic told whufc.com. "Their whole season has been quite amazing for their standards."

“They have a great balance in the team with experience and organisation," he stated. "But also with the stamina of the players and the individual quality of the players."

“It is the first target," the Croatian stressed. "We have a few targets of course. Not only us."

"There is no point talking about target number two or number three," he admitted. "Before you reach your first target which is 40 points."

Bilic added: "We have a hell of a lot to do to reach it.”

There to train

Saturday's clash will be their last game for two weeks, with their 5-0 defeat to Manchester City excluding them from FA Cup football next weekend.

Bilic has decided to take the side to Dubai for warm weather training ahead of their clash with Watford, but Bilic insisted that it is not a holiday and the side will be training as hard as ever.

“We are going to train more in Dubai than we would if we were here,” he confirmed. “And it’s not a question of where you are going."

"It’s a question of what you are doing while you are there," the 48-year-old stressed. “The players will have some free time of course, to clear their heads and recharge the batteries."

"Which psychologically is important for the remainder of the season," Bilic concluded. “First and foremost, though, we are going to train, and the team will do some very important sessions.”

West Ham United will take on West Bromwich Albion at the London Stadium on Saturday, February 11 with kick-off at 3pm GMT.