David Moyes has expressed his desire to lead West Ham to the final of the Europa Conference League head of the Semi-Final 1st leg tonight.

Our Hammers take on AZ Alkmaar at the London Stadium later with the intention to get one foot in Prague with an electric atmosphere under the floodlights fully expected in what could be a historic period in our clubs history.

There is no denying that domestically this campaign has been a struggle in East London, but with survival almost confirmed in the Premier League, attention can now be fully on lifting a first major trophy in 43 years – although Moyes acknowledges that AZ are set to provide a stern test.

“You have to be a good side to get to a semi-final,” Moyes told the press, as reported by Football London. “AZ are a good side and have beaten some good sides like Anderlecht and Lazio, and they played at Ajax at the weekend, so I don’t think them coming to us will be a big fear for them.

“Do I want to get to a final? 100%. We will do everything in our power to do so. Our results in Europe have been really good, scoring goals and winning both home and away.

“We have to keep that going and if we do then we have a great chance of getting to the final. But first, we have an opponent who we cannot underestimate in any way.”

The Hammers boss, who has come under much scrutiny this season, has admitted that West Ham are on the cusp of bringing the Scot his greatest achievement to-date as a manager in the game.

“To get to a European final, it could be my best one,” said Moyes. “In the past I’ve got to a Champions League quarter-final with Manchester United, lost on penalties in the quarter-final of the Europa League with Everton and last year we reached a semi-final here at West Ham and this year, we’re in a semi-final.

“I want to try and take it a couple of steps further, and I would refer back to the serial winner in Jose Mourinho, who found winning this trophy so special for him and his football club. For me, if ever I needed somebody to show how hard it was to win a trophy, and he treated it as if it was so important.”

Moyes admitted the Semi-Final exit last year at the hands of Frankfurt still hurts the Hammers boss, but that could be used as drive to do better this time around.

“I find that all West Ham supporters are buzzing by the chance to get to a final,” added the boss. “Last year being in a semi-final, we were all thrilled by it but disappointed we didn’t make the final. We are hoping to go one step further this year.”