Mullins makes Hay at Hammers

Hayden Mullins believes West Ham's players have justified Alan Pardew's faith.

West Ham midfielder Hayden Mullins is delighted the squad have been able to justify the faith shown in them by Alan Pardew at the start of the season.

By his own omission, Mullins, like many of his team-mates, had precious little top-flight pedigree when The Hammers returned to The Premiership last year.

12 months later and the East London club have shown themselves to be more than capable of performing at the highest level and Mullins is proud of his side's accomplishments.

A top-ten finish coupled with an appearance in the FA Cup final, and with it a place in next season's Uefa Cup, is a highly-successful return which has left Mullins searching for superlatives.

"It's been unbelievable - no-one at the club would have thought we could have done what we've done this season but the boys' hard work and graft has paid off," Mullins told Sky Sports News.

"We worked tremendously hard to be rewarded for an FA Cup final place and a spot in Europe. A top-ten finish is unbelievable and testament to the work we have put in.

"I don't know about proving doubters wrong, we were just proving to ourselves that we could perform in The Premiership.

"A lot of the players in our squad had not played regular first team football in The Premiership so to get that chance and then prove what we can do is the biggest bonus for us."

Mullins believes The Hammers can continue to improve next season provided they show the same qualities which helped them upset the odds in this campaign.

"I wouldn't like to say. If you asked me at the beginning of this season just surviving would have been our aim but who knows if we play the same way next year we can go as far as we want," he added.

"I've never tasted Europe so it's going to be a great adventure. We've got a young and exciting team at West Ham and I'm just glad to be a part of it."