Spurs man Micky Van de Ven got his back up at the suggestion he needs to support West Ham but privately he knows the score.
There is no love lost between West Ham and rivals Tottenham Hotspur but one might expect a truce to be called given what is at stake in the final month of the season.
Both West Ham and Tottenham have bigger rivals in London of course.
But the dislike between the Hammers and Spurs has been growing ever stronger down the years.
West Ham don’t like Tottenham and vice versa.
Tottenham have not been able to beat the Hammers this season. David Moyes’ side inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Ange Postecoglou’s team on the road at Spurs.
Why Spurs will be hoping West Ham beat Bayer Leverkusen
And the rivals played out a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium last week.
Since then Spurs and West Ham have both won, against Forest and Wolves respectively, to boost their European hopes.
Tottenham have leapfrogged Aston Villa into fourth place and a guaranteed Champions League spot. But it’s only on goal difference.
West Ham meanwhile maintained seventh spot, which will be rewarded with European qualification for a fourth successive season if they hold onto it. The Hammers are one point off sixth.
But the east Londoners also have an outside chance of Champions League football if they go on to win back-to-back European trophies by lifting the Europa League.
West Ham take on German invincibles Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals over the next week.
And Tottenham have a big reason to keep a keen eye on the outcome.
Because their fate could well rest in West Ham’s hands.
Micky van de Ven gets salty about supporting West Ham
If Moyes’ side progress at the expense of the Bundesliga champions-elect, then it will make it much more likely that fifth place in the Premier League will be rewarded with a spot in the new bumper Champions League.
BBC Sport has previously explained all the permutations in depth.
The key point, though, is that if West Ham eliminate Leverkusen, then they would secure three points in UEFA’s tally system which will allocate an extra place to two top flight leagues.
They say if you can’t beat them, join them.
But one Tottenham star is having none of it.
In fact Spurs man Micky Van de Ven got his back up at the suggestion he needs to support West Ham this week.
Van de Ven has told The Mirror he is well aware of the permutations. But he insists he certainly won’t be cheering on West Ham against the Germans. That’s despite Spurs clearly needing a favour to boost their chances of a Champions League place.
Face facts Tottenham you need a favour from the Hammers
“Of course, you are speaking about it because you know that maybe fifth place is going to be enough,” Ven de Ven said.
“But we are not focusing on fifth. We want to be fourth or even higher. We just want to make sure that at the end of the season, we don’t have to look at how everything went with the list.
“You look at it but it’s not like I’ll be supporting West Ham.
“It’s not that deep. We just want to finish in a position where we are sure we’ll be playing Champions League football next year.”
Does Van de Ven want some chips with that salt?
Perhaps he’s still bitter about being booed when he took on West Ham fanatic Russ Bray at the World Darts Championship back in December.
Privately Van de Ven knows the score. He knows Spurs need the Hammers’ help no matter how much he or his manager try to play down their desperation to be in the Champions League.