West Ham striker Carlton Cole says he wants the club to win promotion back to the Premier League to repay the supporters' faith.
The Hammers suffered a miserable season last year as they were relegated to the Championship. But there has been a noticeable shift in atmosphere at Upton Park and Cole is determined to give the fans something to shout about, starting with Sunday's league opener at home to Cardiff.
The England striker said: "The players that were here last season and are still here now, our main objective is always to give back to the fans and do it for yourself as well.
"We didn’t do too well last year and the players all felt the pain of going down and it really hurt. But we have a new frame of mind now and a new outlook on things and our main objective is to get back to the Premier League asap because that’s the only way we can heal our wounds."
Cole is one of a several players in the squad with international experience and the 27-year-old is convinced they can still have a future at this level as long as their club form is impressive.
He said: "We’re a big club. West Ham are a massive club and we’re always in the media. If you’re performing on the field, winning games and scoring goals, defending well and top of the league, you’re going to get noticed.
"That’s our main objective. We’ve got a good unit here and hopefully we can hold on to the players we have here and no-one goes out. If more come in then we should be in good stead for the rest of the season."
Cole's future was up in the air after Stoke City agreed a fee with West Ham for him. But the former Chelsea player failed to agree terms and he insists he his happy to help guide the Hammers back to the top flight.
"I’ve stated it before, I’m very happy here and never wanted to leave," he said.
"I went away and then I think there were some dealings that happened which I wasn’t aware of. I came back and people said ‘congratulations you’ve left’. I was like ‘congratulations what? I’ve not left anywhere yet. I’m still a West Ham player.’
"My agent was keeping me informed but there wasn’t anything I agreed to. The bottom line is I didn’t agree to anything."
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