David Moyes insists his West Ham team are performing better than they were at this time last season, when they went on a real run of form.

The Irons are trying to qualify for the Champions League this season and go into this weekend’s game against Manchester United in fourth place; a win would keep them well in the mix to make it into Europe’s premier club competition.

The Hammers have also been playing in the Europa League, qualifying for the knockout stages by winning the group, and Moyes reckons that this side is better than the one that went within a hair’s breadth of qualification last term.

Indeed, from January onwards, in the final 18 games of the season, West Ham lost just five, and ended the season just two points off fourth-placed Chelsea.

Asked if the Irons can compete with the biggest clubs in the league, Moyes told reporters: “What gives me the most confidence about it is that this time last year is when we kicked on. This time last year we went into our best run of games, we played very well in the second half of the season when the other teams were in a similar situation with a lot of games. I think we’ve got a better team this year.

“What we did get is that we brought in Jesse in January last year which gave us a boost, gave us some goals and a bit more of something. That definitely had an impact on us. The team this year has started the season better, been playing better.

“In truth, for most of the front half of the season we’ve been in a better position so it is now if we can maintain that consistency and keep picking up points. Of course we’re going to lose games at times like we did last week but in the main we’ve had not a bad consistency level for most of the season so far.”