Pablo Zabaleta believes West Ham lack the mental strength to seal a possible Europa League place this season.
The Hammers are only two points adrift of seventh, which may be enough to secure a European spot for 2019-20, but the Argentine defender doubts whether they have what it takes to win that race after their 2-0 defeat by Everton.
Zabaleta said: “I am not happy at all because if you look at the season so far, we have not been consistent enough. We have had three or four bad performances against teams around us.
“There are five teams looking for that seventh position and it is all about one or two points difference between them.
“We have lost so many opportunities to be in that seventh place and it shows the weak mentality that we have probably got and which we need to improve looking forward”.
Zabaleta, 34, also revealed he can automatically extend his West Ham contract by a year if he makes two more Premier League starts this season. If the Argentine is in the starting line-up for 23 of West Ham’s 38 matches, he reaches the 60 per cent threshold required to trigger the extension. With six games remaining, he is on 21. He added: “There is a clause in the contract. If I do stay then I would have a different role in the team, not to play as much. I know in myself that I cannot play the same amount of games that I have over the past two seasons.”
