West Ham United, currently 10th in the Premier League table, have five games left to play in their search for a European place next season, but The Hammers face some tough matches at the end of the season.

West Ham been hovering around 10th place in the English Premier League since last November and are struggling to find the winning formula, having lost five of their last seven Premier League matches.

After Tuesday's 1-0 home defeat to Portsmouth, West Ham manager Alan Curbishley has admitted his frustration, saying: "I was hoping for a bit more than being mid-table, I must admit.

"I wanted a nice solid season that would give us a bit of a foundation for next year. I wanted to be on the back pages for the right reasons, instead of the reasons we were on them last year.

"I find the job frustrating at the moment. All season things have come along and caused us problems in terms of team selection. Criticism is part and parcel of football. I am honest enough to say that in the last couple of weeks we haven't done well enough.

"You can't hide from that. Whatever the problems we have had, we should have done better. We should have coped with the last few weeks. We haven't got the results and it is a results business."

"I think Harry Redknapp said it the other day, that finishing in the top 10 in the Premier League shouldn't be sniffed at and you've got to go for it.

"These last three or four weeks have been a disappointment and as we enter the final straight we desperately need to pick up and end on a high.

"We've been in this mid-table position for so long and we've got five more games to see if we can push higher up the league."

West Ham have suffered from a string of injuries this season, with many of the big-name summer signings - Kieron Dyer, Craig Bellamy and Julien Faubert – absent through injury for a large proportion of the season.

The Hammers have also seen midfielders Scott Parker, Matthew Etherington and Lee Bowyer, striker Dean Ashton and defenders Danny Gabbidon and James Collins endure lengthy injury periods during West Ham’s frustrating season.

West Ham have some tough matches in prospect in their run-in, with trips to Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers, but will hope to pick up points against relegation doomed Derby County, with home matches against Newcastle United and Aston Villa to come in the final matches of the 2007/08 Premier League season and Curbishley knows that a European place is a tough proposition.

"The average league position of West Ham in the top flight is roughly 13th and I want to finish as high as I can.

"For us to stay in the top 10, we need to win some games, " stated the Hammers boss.

West Ham United FC’s remaining Premier League fixtures 2007/08 EPL season: