GEBRUS

Last weekends victory over Everton ended Burnleys 12-match winless run and boosted hopes the Clarets can hold on to their seventh position over the closing weeks of the season, or even move up one.

Dyches men are only five points behind stumbling Arsenal, and victory over the Hammers would put the pressure on ahead of the Gunners clash with Watford on Sunday.

 

The Burnley manager will not be allowing himself to think about such matters any time soon, and expects West Ham to come out fighting after back-to-back 4-1 losses against Liverpool and Swansea City.

"They are in a tough spell after David Moyes doing well when he first went in and calming everything down," said Dyche. "Hes a very good manager in my opinion and I know Stuart Pearce well. They have a good staff.

 

"Its not an easy task for us. Theyre fighting for points, were now fighting for points for different reasons. We want to go beyond last season, weve put ourselves in a great position to do that."

 

Sean Dyche wants Burnley to achieve a record points total - whether or not it sees them finish above Arsenal

Meanwhile, David Moyes reckons his team need at least three wins from their final nine games, six of which are at home, to ensure their survival.

"Every game is going to be really important and until we get the points to remain a Premier League team, which I believe we will do, you have got to get them," said the Scot.

"We need good performances and here we have had some good showings, some good games and then some poor ones, so we have to find some balance.

"But between now and the end of the season we need to win at least another three anyway.

"I think 40 points is the safe bet, if you get 40 then youre pretty much there so weve got 10 points to get there."

 

West Ham centre-half Winston Reid will miss the match after being ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Full-back Sam Byram is out with an ankle injury, but fellow defenders Angelo Ogbonna (illness) and James Collins (hamstring) should return.

Pedro Obiang and Andy Carroll are still injured, while Arthur Masuaku serves the final match of his six-game spitting ban.

Dyches main selection dilemma, meanwhile, looks to be whether to start Chris Wood for the first time since December.

The striker returned from a knee injury as a half-time substitute in last weekends victory over Everton and made a big impact, including scoring the winning goal, and Dyche may be tempted to start with Wood alongside Ashley Barnes up front.

Dyche is set to pick from the same squad as last week, with keeper Tom Heaton (shoulder) and midfielder Scott Arfield (calf) not yet ready for first-team returns.