West Ham United defender Declan Rice has admitted that the entire squad are doing their all to impress manager Manuel Pellegrini during the club’s pre-season training.

Rice was a key figure in the Hammers’ team last season, making 31 appearances under both Slaven Bilic and David Moyes. At just 19-years-old, it was an impressive campaign for the defender, but with new manager Pellegrini taking over it will be interesting to see whether he will remain as a starter in the squad.

However, Rice says that both himself and the rest of the squad are all working hard to impress the Chilean and nail down a spot in the starting XI for next season.

Speaking on the Hammers’ official website, Rice said: “It’s really good to be back. After a positive end to last season, then going away for some international games and obviously the incoming of the new manager, it’s really good to be back and I can’t wait for a few more days out here.

“It’s a new manager coming in and I think everyone has got a fresh start under him. I can’t wait to show him what I’m about and what I can do.

“I played 32 or 33 times last year and I want to carry on this year. I want to keep playing games and keep improving and learning.

“The first impressions are really good. I just said ‘Hello’ and trained under all of them for the first time this week, so hopefully I made an impression and that’s what everyone else is here to do, to impress them and show them what they can do over the course of the 12 days. So far, it’s really good.

“The manager told us the hard work starts now and we’ve got a full season of hard work ahead.

“He had a meeting on Tuesday night to talk about tactical and technical things but, overall, he wants to see us playing. He’s watched us training and he wants to get to know everyone.”