West Ham boss David Moyes eyes 40-point mark before getting excited

"I think we start each season hoping to do something special but I said at the start I don't want to be promising the supporters something that I can't deliver," said the Hammers boss.

"I would rather promise them less and deliver more if I can. We are only 10 or 11 games in at the moment but that's still the same, I don't want to promise too much.

"Let's get 40 points and then start being positive. As soon as we get 40 points then I'll be really positive because I want to see the challenge – but let's not kid ourselves.

"It was only three months ago I was sitting in this seat and it was all about can we avoid relegation, and apart from two goals we would have sat all through the lockdown in a relegation position.

"So we mustn't forget where we were, but we must also now look forward. I don't want to put too much expectation on myself and the players. Small steps."

West Ham are likely to be without Michail Antonio again when they host Crystal Palace, with the in-form forward still recovering from a hamstring injury.

Nevertheless, the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek have been chipping in with goals and Moyes added: "We are looking capable of scoring in every game we play in and we have been doing that without our talisman in Micky Antonio.

"We have had to come through a period of five or six games without him and we have had to find a way of picking up results.

"We are looking forward to getting him back, but we know we will have to keep playing well to keep up this league position."