Andre Ayew Aiming for Strong Start to 2017/18 After Full Pre-Season With Hammers

West Ham United forward Andre Ayew has revealed that he is 'feeling good' ahead of the upcoming 2017/18 campaign and is hopeful that having a full pre-season with his team-mates will serve him much better after joining the club just five days before the big kick-off last year.

"I'm feeling good and working hard. We had long days in Austria and now we're just at the beginning in Germany and we have a few games to come," Ayew told West Ham TV this week.

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/GettyImages

"We're working hard here, trying to get fit, working together and getting to know each other, so it's sweet. Pre-season is something which is very, very important and, for me, I've not been able to have a real pre-season for a long time because of international games," he added.

"I have always been coming back later, so to start the pre-season with the squad is quite good."

Not only did Ayew miss the Hammers' pre-season last year because his club record £20.5m wasn't completed until 8th August, but he also missed a large chunk of it through injury, playing just 26 of the club's 38 Premier League games.

Stu Forster/GettyImages

"It was not my optimum, but I was getting there bit by bit by playing games," Ayew said on the subject of only reaching something like full fitness in the final months of the campaign.

"For me, it was a shame the season came to an end because I was starting to feel better after my injury. I need to continue working hard and doing what we were doing at the end of last season and I'm sure I will get back to my best physically and everything will be okay."

West Ham have two upcoming friendlies against Werder Bremen in Germany, followed by Altonaer FC von 1893 from Hamburg's state league. The Hammers will then wrap up pre-season with an all-Premier League clash with Manchester City in Iceland on August 4.