Kevin Nolan backs Ricardo Vaz Te

West Ham United captain Kevin Nolan has insisted that there are no hard feelings with Ricardo Vaz Te.

The Portuguese striker attempted to engineer a move away from Upton Park in the summer, but remained with the club despite handing in a transfer request.

"Obviously we had the Ricardo Vaz Te incident last week but hopefully now he can just knuckle down and fight for his place and really it's about us making sure he knows he is still wanted here," he told the club's official website.

"At the end of the day, we're a tight-knit group and we were surprised by it but that's football and that's life. Hopefully now we can put it all to bed and he can get back amongst the lads because we're all waiting with open arms.

"Generally he just wants to play football and hopefully now he'll get the chance. It's up to him to prove everyone wrong."

Norwich City were believed to be close to signing the 26-year-old.