Sam Allardyce has set his squad an initial target of 50 Premier League points this season.
The Hammers achieved 46 points in their first season back in the top-flight last season and, having strengthened his squad with the arrivals of Stewart Downing, Razvan Rat, Adrian and the permanent signing of Andy Carroll, Allardyce feels 50 points is achievable.
But he also explains that he and his coaching staff will have a better idea of what they can achieve once the transfer window has closed.
He told whufc.com: “The objective of the exercise is to make sure we try and get better than last season if we can.
“We achieved 46 points last year, so I’d think if we get 50 it would be a great season. That will be probably be our target to start with, then we’ll break that down and see how we’re going to try and get those 50 points.
“We won’t really know how tough it’s going to be until the end of the window. When we get to the end of the window and I sit down with the coaching staff and the technical staff, we’ll look at everybody’s squad and say to ourselves is it more difficult this year than last?”
And as the Hammers prepare for the visit of newly-promoted Cardiff City on Saturday, Allardyce believes it is important his players get off to a winning start to set themselves up for the rest of the campaign.
“My message to the lads is that there’s no easy game in the Premier League and if we don’t hit the ground running and hit our top form, this will be a very difficult game for us,” he stressed.
“The last thing you want is to start your season playing at home and to lose it. Because then you’ve got to go to Newcastle United away from home and try to get a result.
“So Saturday’s the most important game of the season, obviously.”
Allardyce also confirmed that there are no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s game at the Boleyn Ground, which comes as a bit of surprise to him.
“It’s the first time in my management career that I’ve gone through a pre-season without a single injury,” Allardyce continued.
“We’ve had knocks, but no player has had to miss a game because of injury throughout the entire summer, so I hope that continues all the way through to next May.”
