Gianfranco Zola believes 52 points could be enough for his West Ham United team to qualify for next season's UEFA Europa League.
The Hammers occupy seventh position in the Premier League table going into Saturday's trip to Blackburn Rovers. Zola's squad has mustered 40 points from the 29 league games they have contested this season and the manager believes 12 points from their final nine fixtures could be enough to secure European football next season.
With home games against Sunderland, Chelsea, Liverpool and Middlesbrough and trips to Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Stoke City and Everton to follow this weekend's visit to Ewood Park, Zola is positive his squad has the physical and mental strength to qualify for next season's UEFA Europa League.
"The supporters can be optimistic as long as we manage to get all the players back from injury. Obviously we have had big problems and in the next few weeks we are looking forward to getting a few players back. When we have all of them available again then we really have a good chance because the team is looking well.
"The team has shown me that it is a strong team and also mentally they are strong because we lost a few games. We lost to Manchester United and at Bolton and the FA Cup game at Middlesbrough but we had a very difficult game against Manchester City and on that occasion they performed very, very well. It was a very good indication to me about how strong they are mentally.
"First of all we need consistency. It is a very, very important thing. They need to perform all the time. That is the main thing. We have achieved the first target which was to get to at least 40 points. Now they need to push even more because we want to reach 52 points. I believe that will be the quota we need to achieve if we want to go into Europe, so they need to push themselves even harder.
"At this point of the season we have less players because we have a few injuries and people are starting to get tired so they really need to be demanding of themselves.
"I believe that 52 points will be the target we need that might take us to the Europa League so we are 12 points short. It is achievable. We have to think in this way. We have to have targets and try everything to achieve them."
While some Premier League clubs have fielded weakened teams in the UEFA Cup this season, the manager also dismissed suggestions that European football would prove be an unwanted distraction for him and his players next term should the Hammers secure their qualification.
"For me, it is very much worth qualifying. We haven't been in Europe for a while [the 2006/07 season]. I played in Europe for many years as a player and I know very much how good it is to play in that kind of competition not only for the silverware you can get but also for the opportunity it gives players to improve. If you play abroad you always improve so I wish that we can achieve that."