Sam Allardyce and his Hammers aim to kill off any lingering nerves and leave Cardiff City without hope in their second leg play-off clash on Monday (4.30pm).
Sam Allardyce: “Nerves and tension will play a part on Monday, but we’ll set out to win the second leg and kill off the tie.
“We won’t sit back and try to defend our two-goal lead.
“We drew too many home games earlier this season, but we have won our last two and scored eight goals.
“Our performance against Cardiff City in the first leg was outstanding.
“We could have had more goals, but 2-0 is a fantastic scoreline.
“Our clean sheet was crucial because a goal for Cardiff would have lifted them and handed them some momentum going into the return.
“We are halfway there, but now we are focused on finishing the job.”
Blackpool beat Chris Hughton's Birmingham 1-0 in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Friday night.
The only goal of the game at Bloomfield Road came just before the break when Thomas Ince's strike deflected off Curtis Davies and ended in the visitors' net.
Blackpool will take their slender advantage to St Andrews next Wednesday for the second leg.
Chris Hughton: "They were better than us, we'll hold our hand up.
"We'll need be better than we were tonight and if we are that puts us in with a great chance.''
Source: FOOTYMAD
