West Ham United striker Carlton Cole is backing the club's youngsters to make a big impact next season.

"We've got a lot of youth players coming through," Cole told whufc.com. "James Tomkins, Junior Stanislas and Freddie Sears broke through last year, while Zavon Hines and Bondz N'Gala also broke through [into the first-team squad] . So you've got good, young players trying to break through to the first team that will push the players that are already there and established to kick on more or else the kids are going to take their places.

"This is the confidence that the manager has bought to the young players as well, to get them to believe in themselves to get to the right level of playing."