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Hammers captain Kevin Nolan has praised Ravel Morrison for his performances so far this pre-season and hopes he can continue to improve as the new season fast approaches.

Morrison impressed in his loan spell at Championship side Birmingham City last season and it appeared he was beginning to direct his focus on playing football rather than his off-field problems.

And Nolan believes his time at St. Andrews has allowed him to develop as person, as well as a player, and insists the more experienced members of the Hammers squad will be doing their best to guide him in the right direction.

He told whufc.com: “Last year he let himself down off the field with not turning in and things like that.

“I’m not pulling him out because he is a lovely kid and we want him to do well, and that’s why we’ve worked so hard.

“I’m going to help him as much as I can this season, talking to him on the pitch and off the pitch. If he can get it all right, he’ll be a top player for years to come.”

And Nolan believes Morrison has the ability to carve out a rewarding career for himself, but only if he continues to focus on his game, using last night’s 3-2 triumph of Sporting Lisbon as a good example of what the supporters can expect from him.

“Hopefully this is going to be the start of what is going to be a fantastic career for him because, as you can see, he has great ability and can score goals too,” he added.

“We scored three good goals. Ravel scoring two was massive for us because he’s been fantastic through the pre-season.”

Meanwhile, Nolan believes West Ham are almost ready for the big kick-off against Cardiff City on August 17 and that the squad are looking forward to it.

He added: “At the end of the day, this is all about making sure we’re ready on August 17 because we’ve got to make sure we get everything right.

“The fitness, mentality, set-pieces and everything. Hopefully we’re getting close to doing that. We’re only 11 days off and we’re looking forward to it.”