West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has claimed that his side have potentially set themselves up for failure after setting the bar so high in the Premier League.
The Hammers kept up their charge for a top-five finish by seeing off Watford 3-1 in a comfortable manner at Upton Park on Wednesday evening.
With a meeting against fifth-placed Manchester United still to come before the end of the season, West Ham will fancy their chances of securing a European spot in Bilic's first managerial campaign at the helm.
However, the former Croatia boss believes that his side have become 'victims of their success' this term, which could see the pressure increase heading into the final stretch of matches.
Speaking after the win over Watford, Bilic is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "We are victims of our success as the bar is always more and more up. We are coping with that well.
"This game was a big one because I told the players 'the season is good or very good anyway but after this game are we going to look up and try to catch those teams'. Still we have to look down as Liverpool are in good form.
"We wanted to prove to Watford that we are a much better team than the game between us at their ground. We can say they had half of their mind on the weekend and they rested players which we expected. But their lineup still had internationals."
West Ham head to West Bromwich Albion on April 30 for their next league outing, before facing Swansea City, Man United and Stoke City in the final month of the campaign.
Daniel Lewis
