Big Sam was delighted to welcome his three latest recruits to the West Ham United squad after a busy final day of the January transfer window.

The Hammers added a trio of attacking options to their ranks on deadline day to add to the earlier singings of George John and Joe Dixon. Ravel Morrison signed from Manchester United, Nicky Maynard made the switch from Bristol City and Ricardo Vaz Te joined from fellow Championship side Barnsley.

"We have done well in the window and I am delighted to welcome Ricardo Vaz Te, Ravel Morrison and Nicky Maynard to the club," Big Sam said. "I have been backed by our owners in bringing people in to bolster the squad and we have managed to do that and it has turned out very well for us."

The West Ham United manager met with all three before they penned their deals and was pleased by what he saw. Vaz Te and Maynard are expected to come straight into contention for a place in the squad for Saturday's match with Millwall, while Morrison may have to wait a little longer for first-team action.

"I think Ricardo and Nicky are proven players who can come into the frame straight away as they have been a force with their clubs in this division before. We have been a bit short of taking our chances, so hopefully they can add a little bit more to our frontline

"We are also pleased that Ravel has chosen us and we hope that we can develop him quickly into the first-team as we have done this season with our other young players. They have all got experience, started breaking through and by doing so, have been putting a little bit of pressure - good pressure - on the older players.

"That is a good healthy thing at a football club. Hopefully Ravel can match that and be as good as everyone says he can be."

Following the disappointment of Tuesday's result at Ipswich Town, Sam has already started preparations for Saturday's derby with the full squad back in at Chadwell Heath on Wednesday morning.

Allardyce said: "I'm really disappointed with Tuesday's result. I must admit that I didn't expect that - a poor performance defensively - as it has been one of our ultimate strengths, particularly away from home.

"As a defensive unit, we disintegrated in the first-half. We allowed Ipswich to come out of the blocks quicker than we did and exploit gaps and holes we left in our defence. When you do that, you get punished and Ipswich punished us and deservedly so.

"The shock is that we are not normally like that but we were poor and that is why we lost the game. It is not something we want to repeat and we haven't done that this season, so we are looking to work out what went wrong and put it right.

"The fans deserve that at the very least. I apologise, but they must know that we will put it right. We have had a blip before, probably not as bad as this match, and we have bounced back, so that is what we need to do."