West Ham United manager David Moyes is taking great enjoyment from his team's challenge at the upper end of the Premier League table.
The Hammers head into the 2020/21 Premier League season's final seven games occupying a spot in the top four, ahead of the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
While the boss admits West Ham face a huge task to keep themselves ahead of that group come the campaign's end, he is going to relish the fight over the closing stretch, which takes the east Londoners to Newcastle United next on Saturday afternoon.
"I'm enjoying it and the players are doing really well," he explained. "We've got a great bunch of lads, how they're playing and where we are at this moment in time is way beyond probably anybody's thoughts.
"There are seven games to go now and we're counting them down."
West Ham's prowess in front of goal has really caught the eye in recent weeks.
Having scored three goals in each of their last three games, the Hammers passed a half-century of league strikes for the season in Sunday's 3-2 victory over Leicester City.
West Ham have only netted 50-plus Premier League goals five times in 24 previous seasons and now Moyes' Irons have an outside chance of beating the Club's all-time record in this competition, 65 in 2015/16.
Now, the manager knows his team have to marry that goalscoring threat with better game management when they do take leads, to avoid the nervy conclusions to both that victory over the Foxes, and the preceding success at Wolverhampton Wanderers last Monday evening.
"Everything that's been good about us all season was on show in what got us 3-0 up against Leicester," he added, "We showed a real attacking focus to try and get goals, to try and make sure we win the games. We're taking a few risks to get those goals, and that will leave you a little more open defensively.
"But when we're 3-0 up I'm hoping that then we're able to shut up shop and say: 'do your jobs' and be in positions, but unfortunately we didn't do them quite well enough at that point
"It's bugging me because I know what it's like. You will come up against better teams and when you do they will punish you."
