Winston Reid is hopeful that West Ham United's pre-season acquisitions can help the club set loftier ambitions for next season.

Sam Allardyce's side ended up with a 13th-placed finish in the Premier League last season having spent much of the campaign near the bottom of the table.

Now, after signing the likes of Mauro Zarate and Cheikhou Kouyate, Reid hopes that the incomings will compliment the Hammers' defensive steel and aid West Ham's rise next term.

He told the club's official website: "We already have a good backbone of defensive qualities in our squad.

"I think that was proved with the 14 clean sheets we achieved last season and to add more in the attacking sense on top of that, can only be a good thing for the whole team.

"The gaffer and the owners have been working hard to secure new additions to our squad, including in attack, and these will add to what we have here already and help us to push on next season to finish higher up in the Barclays Premier League and we look forward to that."

West Ham kick off their Premier League campaign by hosting Tottenham Hotspur on August 16.