West Ham United veteran defender James Collins admitted that the Hammers are "happy with a point", as they moved one step closer to the coveted 40-point mark with Saturday's 0-0 draw against Stoke City.

Still picked up points

Manager Slaven Bilić highlighted the importance of hitting the "magic number" of 40 points during his pre-match press conference, however it would be fair to say the clash at the Bet365 Stadium wouldn't be a game to tell future generations about.

It was the travelling side that had the majority of the opportunities only thwarted by the excellence of the returning Jack Butland, with the goalkeeper putting in a man of the match performance to deny the likes of André Ayew and Manuel Lanzini throughout the 90 minutes.

That point leaves them still seven points above the relegation zone with just three games remaining, and Collins admitted that the point was good enough to take away from the West Midlands.

“I think we’re happy with a point,” Collins admitted to whufc.com post-match. “I think if someone had offered us that before the game, we’d have taken it."

"As they’ve been playing really well at home and scoring lots of goals," the defender stressed to the club's website. "So to come and get another clean sheet is good.”

He did concede that as West Ham have picked up two nil-nils in a row, it's "great for me personally as a defender, as I'm paid to keep clean sheets."

"We have probably lacked a bit up front in the last two games," the defender conceded. "But we’ve still picked up points.”

Still nine points to play for

The Hammers currently find themselves in quite an unique position with a seemingly big enough cushion above the drop but not guaranteed safety, but also three points away from breaking into the top half of the table.

They will be granted the opportunity to achieve the latter in the early game on Friday night, when they host bitter London rivals Tottenham Hotspur who will look to close the gap on Chelsea to just a single point.

The visit of Mauricio Pochettino's men will begin a tough end to the season with the visit of Liverpool and the final day trip to Burnley, but Bilić insisted that his side will look to play for every point left available to them.

“We want to be safe," the coach stated. "But still not club that is around us in the Premier League is safe."

"There are still nine points to play for," Bilić concluded. "We want to do everything to collect as many as possible.”