Slaven Bilic wants West Ham to embrace final Upton Park outing
Slaven Bilic has told his West Ham players to embrace the emotion of their final match at Upton Park.
The Hammers will run out at a packed Boleyn Ground for the last time when they host Manchester United on Tuesday night.
To add extra spice to what is already a momentous occasion for the club, they also need a victory to keep their bid to qualify for the Europa League on track.
And their visitors will be in no mood to roll over as Louis van Gaal's side are right back in the chase for a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.
Yet Bilic is counting on his players to rise to the occasion, rather than be overawed by it.
"It's impossible to lose the emotion," said the Hammers boss.
"Let's say if the game didn't mean a lot to us or to Manchester United, in the sense of this season, it would be big anyway because it's the last game at Upton Park.
"But it means a lot to them and to us - both things have clicked, so it's big, big. It can't be bigger.
"If they beat us they are very close to fourth place and for us, if we want to secure a Europa League slot, we need to beat them. It's massive.
"So the players would be emotional even if just one of those couple of things were involved. But there's nothing wrong with being emotional."
West Ham's final Saturday at Upton Park ended in a damp squib, with a surprise 4-1 defeat by lowly Swansea ending their faint Champions League hopes.
It also allowed Southampton to leapfrog them into sixth place, although the Hammers would climb back above them with a win on Tuesday night.
"We were disappointed not to do better in that game," added Bilic.
"We'd said before that the gap below was smaller than the gap to Manchester City in fourth. To be fair Southampton did a great job with wins against City and Spurs, and now they are with us."
Darren Randolph will deputise for injured goalkeeper Adrian but Bilic has an otherwise fully-fit squad for the match.
Meanwhile, Juan Mata is looking forward to playing his part in West Ham's farewell to Upton Park - a place the Manchester United man says "breathes English football".
United go there knowing victories in their final two league games will guarantee them a place in the top four and a Champions League spot.
Last month, United won the last-ever FA Cup match to be played at Upton Park, with a 2-1 sixth-round replay win setting them up for a semi-final victory over Everton which now leaves them a May 21 final date against Crystal Palace.
But this time the emotions will run even higher, and Mata - who scored the only goal in Saturday's gritty win at lowly Norwich - knows it will be no ordinary night in east London.
"It's going to be special," he wrote in his weekly blog.
"The last official game at the Boleyn Ground, where West Ham has been playing for 112 years. With that image of Bobby Moore, it's a place that breathes English football... it will be an honour to be there and try to get the last win.
"West Ham has been a tough opponent this season. We know them well because we've played against them in the FA Cup too. They are in the seventh position by a combination of effort and talent, not by chance.
"It (the win at Norwich) was a very important win to keep us in the fight for the Champions League, even more after the draw between (Manchester) City and Arsenal."
Jesse Lingard echoed the comments of Mata and insisted United will let nothing get to them as they know a victory is required to keep their top-four destiny in their own hands.
"These are the games as a player you want to play in, the big-pressure games. We're ready. We've been training hard," he told MUTV.
"Mentally, you've got to prepare for that (the attention around Upton Park) and we know there will be a great atmosphere. But we won't let anything faze us on the day because we have a job to do, which is to get the three points."
It remains to be seen if Van Gaal will rest any players, having given Daley Blind and Marcus Rashford the day off on Saturday.
The Dutchman will also be sweating on the fitness of Anthony Martial, who was not risked at Carrow Road as a precaution after injuring himself in the warm-up.
Source: PAR
