West Ham United midfielder Mohamed Diame has blamed a lack of effort from the players and the club's failure to reinforce the squad for last season's "bad" campaign.

The Hammers, who have opted to stand by manager Sam Allardyce despite discontent from the fans, finished 13th in the Premier League table.

"It was a very bad start and we made the mistake of not recruiting [sufficiently]," the Daily Star quotes Diame as saying.

"We went through the season with almost the same players [as last year], which is never good because the players think they already know who will be wearing the shirt.

"Also, people didn't necessarily give 100% on the field, that's what got us in trouble."

Diame's future at Upton Park has been called into question due to the midfielder having just 12 months remaining on his contract.

Written by
Danielle Joynson