New signing Kevin Nolan insists that West Ham have what it takes to get back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Nolan bowled into the Boleyn earlier today following confirmation of his £4million move from Newcastle - a deal that keeps him tied to United until 2016.And he immediately signalled his intention to help Sam Allardyce's side back into the top flight - a fight he will almost certainly lead as the club's new captain following the departure of Matthew Upson and the imminent loss of Scott Parker.
"If I didn't think that we would be fighting in the Premier League next season, I wouldn't have joined," he told whutv. "I'm looking forward to the challenge.
"It's going to be tough. I'm not saying the Championship is going to be easy to get out of - I've been there a couple of years ago and it wasn't.
"It's going to be a grind but with the quality we've got in the squad, the manager we've got and the owners backing him massively, I think we have all the right resources to get back up and get West Ham to where they belong."
Nolan also confirmed that it was the prospect of reconvening his working relationship with Allardyce once again that was the dealbreaker.
"Having the chance to link up with Sam again is a massive thing," he added. When I knew he wanted to work with me again, it was a very pleasing thing.
"He gave me my debut and made me captain of the club [Bolton]. We got into Europe and the League Cup final; we did really good things together at Bolton. You don't get away with it in the Premier League by just playing long ball.
"We had some fantastic players and I'm sure, with the blend of players he'll bring in and what we've got here, the fans will be pleasantly surprised when we get going"
Whilst the pull of working with Allardyce's was too hard to ignore, Nolan was quick to add that only a club of West Ham's stature and ambition could have persuaded him to ignore convention and drop a division.
"I did have a think about that, but I have come here with the ambition of making sure the club gets back to where it belongs," he confirmed. "I came to West Ham because of the tradition of the club and everything about it.
"I've always enjoyed playing here. This is a new chapter in my life and it's about building a rapport with the fans, with London and getting used to that side of life.
"I'm really looking forward to it and will throw everything at it to be a success here and to repay the faith shown in me by David Sullivan, David Gold, the West Ham fans and Sam Allardyce."
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