Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says his side are "excited" and "motivated" to play West Ham ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Ajax.

Spurs are currently in third place, three points clear of Chelsea in fourth, but are yet to secure a Champions League spot for next season

"For us, after Manchester City we are thinking about trying to beat West Ham," said Pochettino.

"When you compete three days beforehand in a game you must win if you want to be in the top four, and you are fighting for big things.

"And then it's an emotional game because it's against West Ham. The effort [required] is massive.

"That is why we are excited and so motivated. It is a massive challenge for us."

Manuel Pellegrini's West Ham side are currently 11th in the table, and any hopes of a spot in the Europa League were dashed as they failed to win any of their past four games (L3, D1).

But the Chilean, who was appointed manager at the end of last season, believes the Hammers are a team in transition.

He said: "If you review the whole season we played very well in the first half.

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"We improved in our home games and its been a season with different moments. It's maybe a transition season.

"Last season we were fighting relegation until the last game but this season we had eight or nine games left and are safe.

"But we want more trying to reach the highest target we can."

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Team news

Serge Aurier (hamstring), Erik Lamela (hamstring), Moussa Sissoko (groin) and Harry Winks (groin) are all continuing their rehabilitation and are close to a return but remain unavailable for the visit of West Ham.

Harry Kane remains absent due to his ankle injury.

Jack Wilshere returned and came off the West Ham bench for last week's visit of Leicester and Pellegrini has indicated the former Arsenal midfielder could be involved against Tottenham.

West Ham can also welcome back Manuel Lanzini, Javier Hernandez and Aaron Cresswell for the trip to Tottenham, after they returned to training.

Samir Nasri (calf) is due back next week while Carlos Sanchez is close to returning from a long-term knee injury. Winston Reid (knee), Andy Carroll (ankle) and Andriy Yarmolenko (Achilles) remain sidelined.

Opta stats

• Tottenham are looking to complete their first league double over West Ham since the 2012-13 campaign, having won 1-0 at the London Stadium back in October.
• West Ham have only won one of their last 16 away league games against Spurs (D6 L9), picking up a 3-0 victory in October 2013 at White Hart Lane.
• Following a run of five consecutive home league clean sheets against West Ham, Spurs have conceded in each of their last six at home against the Hammers in the Premier League.
• This will be the 12th different campaign in which Tottenham and West Ham have met at least three times in all competitions - Spurs have won both games so far, but have never beaten the Hammers three times in the same season before.
• Only Chelsea (22) have earned more points in Premier League London derbies than Spurs this season (19), with Mauricio Pochettino's side winning three of their four at home (D1).
• Following an unbeaten run of five games away from home (W3 D2), West Ham have lost seven of their last eight on the road in the Premier League (D1), including each of the last four. They last lost five away league games in a row in January 2014.
• West Ham have lost their last six away league games against 'big six' opposition by an aggregate score of 3-16. Indeed, they're winless in 20 such matches (D6 L14) since a 2-1 win at Manchester City in September 2015.
• West Ham have conceded at least twice in their last six Premier League games - they've never shipped 2+ goals in seven consecutive games in the competition, last doing so in the top flight between November 1970-February 1971 (10 games).
• Only Arsenal (11) have had more different goalscorers in Premier League London derbies this season than Tottenham (10), with Harry Kane (4), Dele Alli (2) and Heung-Min Son (2) the only players to score more than once for the club in such fixtures.
• Mark Noble and Felipe Anderson are the only West Ham players to have scored away from home in the Premier League in 2019. The Hammers have scored fewer goals on the road than any other side in the competition since the turn of the year (2).

Paul Merson's prediction

It'll be hard for Tottenham, with one eye on next week, they've got to. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, in my opinion. With the scores across the last week, they're only a win away from the top four. But they can't afford any injuries before the Ajax game.

You just don't know what you're going to get with West Ham. They are the Premier League bag of revels. One minute they have to score four to beat Huddersfield, then get ripped up by Everton at home, then go to United and nearly win. It's a strange one.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1

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