With improved striking options, West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has guaranteed the Hammers will finish in the top ten - if they can replicate last season's tally of clean sheets.

A 2-2 draw at Hull City on Monday night left the Hammers boss pleased with his side’s attacking play but disappointed defensively.

The Hammers have now shipped seven goals in four matches – in stark contrast to last season, where they kept clean sheets in three of their first four Premier League fixtures.

Speaking to the club’s website following an exciting draw at the KC Stadium, Allardyce said he was concerned by the number of goals his side had conceded.

"Our ability has to be both ways, in that when we're out of possession we can't let the opposition score," he stated. "We haven't had a clean sheet yet when we had 14 last year.

"With our goalscorers this year, if we can get 14 clean sheets again, we're going to finish in the top ten, and that's guaranteed.

"We've got to start doing our defensive job better - I even thought we could have done better on their first goal, as I don't think James Tomkins should have let him get the header in.

"Of course on the second goal, it's a real gift. It's a good finish, but at that stage we gifted them a goal.”

Enner Valencia opened his account for the Hammers in superb fashion, following his £12m summer switch from Mexican side Pachuca, and Allardyce praised the qualities of the Ecuadorian.

He said: "You need game-changing players and certainly Enner was our game-changing player because he has popped up and stunned everybody with a world-class goal. I've not seen anybody strike a ball as well as that from that distance.

"You could tell how good it was because McGregor didn't move. The ball was past him before he knew where it was because it was that good.”

There was also praise for another debutant, new loan signing Alex Song, who made his first appearance from the bench for the final 30 minutes.

Said Allardyce: "Alex Song is so comfortable that he does things at his own pace. He never looks in trouble or seems like he's rushed, because that's the quality of the player when a player looks like that.

"He picks out the right pass, makes the right forward passes rather than sideways or backwards and that's why we've bought him. He opened up Hull City's midfield to allow our forwards to run at their defenders – that’s what he's really good at."