Valon Behrami is targeting another good performance for West Ham United at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night.
The Swiss international is excited about the prospect of a London derby with Tottenham, having been made well aware this week at Chadwell Heath of the significance of the match. He is certainly no stranger to capital clashes, having scored a last-gasp winner in March for Lazio to seal a memorable 3-2 win against old rivals Roma and spark mass celebrations for his team at the Stadio Olimpico.
"The Tottenham game is important for us, important for our league position but is most important for the fans," the 23-year-old said, moving his focus firmly from the creditable 0-0 at Liverpool on Monday. "We have been working hard for the game this week, we are only thinking about that. Against Tottenham we have to hold the level of performance we had against Liverpool, the high intensity - that is what we are trying to prepare for in training."
Behrami firmly believes that West Ham United can compete with those teams pushing on in the top half of the table. "The gap is not so much I think but the problem is to do it every game," he added, before reflecting further that he and his team-mates could have come away from Anfield with a second straight away win. "It was a good performance. We defended very well but we could have won that game with the opportunities we had."
Aside from his poise and pace, what has particularly endeared Behrami to the Hammers faithful is his endless energy and enthusiasm. A natural athlete, he has a simple explanation for why he covers so much ground. "When I am happy, I can run for everyone," he said, before quickly emphasising the team over the individual. "Against Liverpool, the whole team ran a lot and gave everything. That is what we want to do again against Tottenham."