West Ham assistant coach Billy McKinlay says the squad have had a good first week of preseason at St Andrews.

For Scot McKinlay, the trip to St Andrews was a return to familiar ground for a man who began his professional career a mere 30 miles up the road at Dundee United.

It is also familiar territory for the Hammers, who have kicked-off their pre-season preparations with a camp in the town three years in a row.

“It's been really good, back here with the lads and the coaches in a place we know really well," the former Scotland international confirmed to the club's website. “We love coming up here in this environment, it suits us well so it's been a great week.

“We've started pre-season here for the last three years now and we're always looked after really well. The facilities are fantastic and that's the most important thing for getting the work into the lads."

McKinlay and the team are relishing the prospect of another season which will see us compete in European competition.

“We've had a brilliant few seasons and did really well last year – in the end we were probably slightly disappointed that we didn't quite get what we wanted at the end of that," he continued.

“We're hungry to go again and we want to keep progressing and building on the foundations from the past couple of years."