Tyrone Mears says Derby County's players are out to prove they make it in England's top flight.A number of Billy Davies' squad have experience at Premier League level, including the likes of Claude Davis, Rob Earnshaw, Andy Griffin and Gary Teale.
Mears, who made just five league appearances for West Ham last term, says manager Davies uses previous failure as a motivation for future success.
"We have a lot of players who have been let go by Premier League clubs who probably think we are not up to this standard," said Mears.
"Last season was frustrating personally and the gaffer keeps saying to me that West Ham don't think I am good enough.
"He says they don't think I can handle it and urges me to go and prove them wrong.
"The gaffer uses that technique with a lot of the players because we all have something to prove this season."