Michail Antonio moves focus to top four after West Ham’s FA Cup exit

Michail Antonio insisted West Ham have serious ambitions of Champions League qualification as he attempted to put a positive spin on their FA Cup exit.

The high-flying Hammers looked to have a major opportunity to reach the cup quarter-finals after makeshift Southampton made nine changes for Wednesday’s fifth-round tie at St Mary’s.

But, despite Antonio cancelling out Romain Perraud’s stunning opener with his first goal since New Year’s Day, a James Ward-Prowse penalty and late finish from Armando Broja saw Saints deservedly progress with a 3-1 win.

Fifth-placed West Ham sit two points below Manchester United in the race for the Premier League top four ahead of Saturday’s trip to Liverpool.

David Moyes’ men are also chasing Europa League glory, with a two-legged last-16 clash against Spanish club Sevilla to come during the next fortnight.

“Onwards and upwards, basically; we’ve got to pick ourselves up from this and go again on Saturday,” Antonio told the Hammers’ website.

“Obviously we wanted to go further in this competition, and now we’re out, so all we’ve got to do is concentrate on what we are in now, and that’s the Europa League and the Premier League.

“We’re still going for the top four, so with all the negatives that have happened (at Southampton), we’ve got to think about the positives for the season.

“We’ve got the top four chase still and we’re in the last 16 of the Europa League. Let’s just see what we can do with those and keep moving forwards.

“One thing about us is that nothing knocks us down. We don’t stay down. We get up and we go again.”

West Ham faded fast from a bright start on the south coast and lacked an end product.

Perraud’s rocket from more than 25 yards stunned the London club, although they