Stewart Downing says that West Ham's players would "love" for manager Sam Allardyce to continue as Hammers boss.

Downing, 29, signed for the Hammers from Liverpool in a £6m deal last summer and admitted that Allardyce was a big factor in his decision.

"We would love him to stay, he’s part of the reason why I came to the club but obviously the owners make all those decisions," Downing told the London Evening Standard.

Allardyce has come under increasing pressure recently after a run of four straight Premier League defeats, which came to an end in the 2-0 win over Spurs on Saturday.

Sections of the West Ham support have called for the former Bolton Wanderers boss to quit the club, but Downing has given Allardyce his full backing.

"I hope that performance puts to bed all the speculation about the manager," said the former England international. "When you lose games, the manager takes most of the criticism but I think he’s handled it really well, in difficult circumstances at times.

"I am sure Sam will be looking at additions to the squad but when everyone is fit we’re a decent team as it is. Against the best teams they will make mistakes if you press them and we did that well against Spurs. That has to be the platform for next season and we can’t just do it every now and again otherwise we will be in trouble again."

Saturday's win over Tottenham leaves the Irons 12th in the Premier League table.