Intro:

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce looks ahead to their English Premier League opener against Tottenham Hotspur at Upton Park on Saturday (KO 15:00 BST). The Iron's first-choice forward Andy Carroll could be out of action for four months after tearing ligaments in his ankle.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Sam Allardyce:

"Yes, I think so. I think that, you know, overall we've gone out and shopped very wisely. I think that from my point of view it's about the age of the players as well as the talent of the players. I think that all our singings, the average age comes out around 23 years old, that's all. I think that's good for now and good for the future. That means they should be here a long time at West Ham, not just a short-term stopover as you maybe have to do in your first season or two in the Premier League, you know. You're looking for short-termers just to get you through. I think now we've moved on to not only improve the squad for now but also for a number of years to come, hopefully and they'll only get better when they play with us. So our business is done. Of course, we are still waiting for probably another front-line player that can maybe score a few goals. That's been very difficult to acquire because of the injury to Andy Carroll but we're still pursuing that avenue as quickly as we possibly can."