West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has said that he is extremely proud of his players and their achievement after they qualified for the play-offs.

West Ham were one of the favourites to get the automatic promotion spot this season, but their poor form in the last few months has meant that they have conceded the first two places to Southampton and Reading.

As a result, they have to contend themselves with a play-off position, which is always a difficult way of getting back into the Premier league. Still, Sam Allardyce has said that he is extremely happy with the commitment of these players and what they have achieved this season.

Allardyce has been involved in a lot of altercations with the West Ham fans over the style of play, but he will be looking to get promotion which will go a long way into pleasing the fans.

If West Ham do not get the promotion this season, then it will be difficult to see Allardyce staying in the job despite the fact that he has a two-year contract with the club. Allardyce was quick to point out that it will be very difficult to get into the Premier league through the play-offs due to the quality of the opposition involved.

“Considering the turnover of players and the state of the club when I walked in, this is a happy club now with a soul. We know we were good enough to clinch first or second but where we’ve come from we’ve had a magnificent season. There’s been peaks and troughs but overall the team has gone through the whole season losing only eight [league] games. That is a magnificent achievement whether we finish third or second,” Allardyce said after the 2-1 win over Hull City, which secured the third position in the table for West Ham.