West Ham midfielder Ward-Prowse: This club deserves a European stage

West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse has urged his teammates not to dwell on their Europa League exit.

Ward-Prowse says they must now focus on a return to Europe for next season.

After the elimination at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, Ward-Prowse said: We knew an early goal would be important but we weren't quite able to build on that," Ward-Prowse said. I thought we were fantastic up until the hour-mark and then you could just see the energy levels start to drop.

The atmosphere was incredible and I think we played a huge part in that in giving the fans something to thrive off. It was a special night but unfortunately we could quite get it done towards the end.

"The club's proven over the years that it deserves to be on the European stage.

Now it's up to us as players to deliver that, there's no reason why we can't.

You look around the changing room, we've got world-class players in there, so it's up to us to deliver that for the fans and for the club.

Tonight was a special occasion and it gives us incentive to have more nights like this next season."