West Ham midfielder Mark Noble is hoping for a better season at Upton Park after admitting the speculation surrounding manager Sam Allardyce's future affected the side last season.

Allardyce was under pressure for much of the campaign but eventually steered the Hammers to safety and a 13th place finish in the Premier League after a poor run through the winter.

“I probably only enjoyed about two months of last season, hopefully [Allardyce staying] is done and dusted now,” Noble told the Daily Mail.

“We were in the bottom three but then managed to put a few results together and jumped to tenth. But from tenth downwards everyone was in a relegation scrap and that’s not where we want to be this season.”

After their tough 2013/14 season, the Hammers have endured a similarly hard pre-season, failing to win in 90 minutes in pre-season matches against Stevenage, Ipswich Town, Wellington Phoenix, Sydney FC, Schalke and Malaga.

However the Canning Town-born midfielder is not concerned about the Irons' disappointing pre-season form.

“I’ve been through pre-seasons where we’ve battered everyone and then lost the first three,” Noble said. “You need a good start, we’ve got two weeks to knuckle down and do what we need to do to become a proper team. Hopefully we can get another couple of signings in and enjoy this season.”