Declan Rice describes 'horrible feeling' as West Ham's top-four hopes take another hit

The Hammers needed a late equaliser from Said Benrahma to cancel out Danny Welbeck's 84th-minute goal for Brighton

West Ham United's Pablo Fornals in action against Brighton. Reuters

Brighton & Hove Albion's Alireza Jahanbakhsh in action against West Ham. Reuters

Brighton's Adam Webster in action with West Ham United's Michail Antonio. Reuters

Brighton's Pascal Gross heads the ball. Reuters

West Ham United's Declan Rice in action with Brighton's Ben White . Reuters

Brighton's Adam Webster in action with West Ham United's Jesse Lingard. Reuters

Brighton's Danny Welbeck celebrates scoring their first goal. Reuters

Brighton's Danny Welbeck celebrates with teammates after scoring. EPA

West Ham United's Said Benrahma scores their first goal. Reuters

West Ham United's Said Benrahma scores their equaliser. Reuters

West Ham United's hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League suffered another setback on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Hammers travelled to the Amex Stadium having lost three of their previous four league games, and needed a late equaliser from Said Benrahma to cancel out Danny Welbeck's 84th-minute goal.

The result left West Ham sixth on 59 points from 36 games, five adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea with two matches left and one behind fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

"It's obviously horrible because we had the Champions League in our sights," West Ham midfielder Declan Rice told Sky Sports. "We can't be relying on other teams to lose. We've drawn too many and lost a few."

When the match seemed to be heading for a goalless draw, Welbeck gave Brighton the lead with a dinked finish for his 50th Premier League goal but their joy was short-lived as Benrahma picked up a loose ball and curled it past keeper Robert Sanchez.

West Ham only secured survival in their penultimate game of last season, but have posed an unexpected challenge for Europe and can still secure a place in the Europa League should they win their final two games.

"This season has been outstanding," added Rice.

"We learned to win ugly this year. It's been a rollercoaster but we can still finish on a high."

Brighton stayed 17th on 38 points.