West Ham United skipper Kevin Nolan has said that injuries cost his side the chance to secure a top-10 finish in the 2013-14 Premier League season.

The Hammers finished 13th in the division last term, but had to play the majority of the campaign without a recognised centre-forward due to a long-term injury to Andy Carroll.

"I think that was a major thing for us last year, it was a lot of injuries," Nolan told reporters.

"It was very difficult from me, from my personal point of view, to build up a relationship with a striker because we had a lot of chopping and changing to do because of the injury state [of affairs], what we had to put up with last year.

"So I'm really confident this year if we can stay away from them injuries, if we can keep Andy [Carroll] fit, as well as the signings... what I've seen of [Mauro] Zarate, he's a fantastic player, and someone I can certainly feed off to get goals, and someone who's going to score goals."

Enner Valencia has also arrived at the club this summer.