Premier League preview No19: West Ham United

Guardian writers' predicted position: 15th (NB: this is not necessarily Kevin McCarra's prediction, but the average of our writers' tips)

Last season's position: Promoted

Odds to win the league: 3,000-1

A place in the promotion play-offs often suggests that a club has fallen a little short of its true ambition but victory in the surroundings of Wembley can surely galvanise a squad. West Ham re-entered the Premier League by defeating Blackpool there and had the added euphoria of a late winner, with a goal from Ricardo Vaz Tê delivering the 2-1 win.

A dispassionate critic might grumble that a side who could not rise automatically from the Championship must still have marked limitations. Sam Allardyce would surely agree. "What a signing," the manager said of Vaz Tê that afternoon. Allardyce meant every word but it did no harm to remind everyone that he had taken the striker from Barnsley only four months earlier.

West Ham evidently trust Allardyce's judgment. David Gold and David Sullivan, who together hold over 60% of the club's shares, have not hesitated to back him. Andy Carroll resisted an effort to take him from Liverpool on loan. "I would probably have stuck my neck out and said we would almost certainly stay up with him on board," Allardyce said this summer.

Talk of an interest in Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov came to nothing but the club did land a forward. Modibo Maïga was bought from Sochaux for a rumoured fee of £4.5m. The Mali international is an all-round attacker and snapped up chances regularly in Ligue 1. Maïga may carry the promise of excitement that every fan looks for on the verge of a new season.

Despite that, there is no danger that Allardyce will abandon his faith in pragmatism when the task is to ensure that West Ham stay in the top flight. The club paid £2.5m to bring back the centre-half James Collins from Aston Villa. There have been problems for him off and on the pitch, with disciplinary issues and uneven form at Villa Park. Nonetheless, West Ham would have hoped to benefit from his presence immediately. As it is, he may need a hernia operation. At a club attempting to regain status after the spell outside the Premier League, that sort of news is particularly depressing.

Worries have been resurfacing at Upton Park. Jack Collison has relative youth on his side as he strives to show that there can still be a great impact but Chris Coleman introduced some sobering realism to the topic after Collison and Collins both withdrew from Wales' friendly with Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In reality, it would be a comfort for Coleman to believe that the players were just averting any risk of harm in a game with no points at stake. In practice, the Wales manager has sounded particularly fretful about the midfielder. "Jack Collison has had a problem, not for six months, not for 12 months," Coleman said. "We're talking maybe two or three years.

"He's had a serious knee problem. He's got through games maybe he shouldn't have because he wants to play. James Collins has got a possible hernia problem that may need surgery. He limped off in a friendly in Portugal for West Ham so he [couldn't play against Bosnia]. I certainly don't doubt the commitment of Jack or James."

A knee operation put Collison out of the game for over a year but there could have been no more pleasing demonstration of his potential than a pair of goals he provided in May. They came in the first-half of the away leg of the play-off tie with Cardiff. The strain had been lifted from West Ham immediately.

With the Premier League campaign not quite upon us, there has been time for speculative discussion. The Olympic Stadium would, in terms of proximity, be convenient as a new home for West Ham. Excitement about that prospect cannot be counted on, however, when the prime venue for football at the Olympics this summer was Wembley.

There is also a certain realism in the argument that West Ham benefit from the intensity of the atmosphere at a stadium holding only 35,000 people. On the other hand, new grounds have often been known to attract new spectators. There probably has to be relative success to hold on to that audience but Allardyce states that the Olympic Stadium would pave the way for a transformation.

At present, West Ham are simply striving to build resilience in the ranks. The summer additions include an experienced defensive midfielder in the 31-year-old Alou Diarra. Robert Green's move to Queens Park Rangers as a free agent was disappointing but, at the very least, there will be no loss of experience between the posts. Following Bolton's relegation, the 37-year-old Jussi Jaaskelainen switched to Upton Park and is reunited with his former manager.

Mohamed Diamé, the captain of the Senegal side at the Olympics, is another addition after his departure from Wigan as a free agent. He will be expected to bring resilience to the midfield. Allardyce counts on experience in the centre of the pitch, where he has the presence of Kevin Nolan, who played under him at Bolton for seven years.

The manager is a realist and this season the focus is likely to be on keeping West Ham out of harm's way.