Hammers ace ready for Euro assault

Striker Craig Bellamy is fit and ready for the new season and is aiming to fire West Ham towards the European places.

The 28-year-old Wales international endured a nightmare first season at Upton Park after a myriad of injury problems restricted him to just eight Premier League appearances. However the former Liverpool and Newcastle man is now over his troubles and working hard in pre-season as he aims for a successful campaign on both a personal and club level.

"I believe every season I want to keep getting better," Bellamy told Sky Sports News.

"Obviously, considering what happened last season it shouldn't be too hard to do much better in this season coming up.

"I'm expecting a real big season from me and I'm expecting it from the club as well."

He added: "The ambition really is to get into Europe. We finished 10th with a lot of players out last season.

"If you look at the points difference we weren't too many points away from Europe.

"We believe, with the players back and with the squad we have already got who played most of last season, we can definitely improve on last season. With a couple of points we shouldn't be too far away from Europe."