West Ham face relegation candidates West Bromwich Albion live on Setanta on Monday night, read on for a full preview...
The Hammers come into the game refreshed from their short training break in Spain and off the back of two hard fought wins against Man City and Wigan. The games took their toll, with Valon Behrami out for 6 months and Jack Collison out for 6 weeks. These have been key injuries as these boys have done a fantastic job on both wings. While the squad is just about strong enough to withstand these blows, any further injuries could have a serious effect on our run in.
As for West Brom, they've had an appaling run of late, losing 5 on the spin and only 1 Premier League win in 2009. I feel slightly sorry for them, in that of all the teams that came up, they do try and play the most attractive football, but it simply has not worked for them. Their strikers simply do not score enough to finish off their well thought out build up play and the defence will always let goals in.
As for the team, Cole is of course suspended after his ridiculous sending off against Wigan and Collison and Behrami are in rehab. Boa-Morte is back on contention after a groin injury and despite his patchy West Ham record, having his natural left wing ability will be important to keep the squad in some balance. Some are calling for Stanislas and i'd like to see him play some part if possible but not necessarily as a starter. We're going to have to play with the ball on the deck with a dimunitive strikeforce and I think with Savio playing a free attacking role and Di Michele as an out and out striker, we can cause West Brom all sorts of chaos. If Tristan is fit then I would advocate him and DDM up front, otherwise, this would be my line up...
Green
Illunga - Upson - Tomkins - Neill
Boa-Morte - Parker - Kovac - Noble
Savio
Di Michele
Bench: Lastuvka, Spector, Stanislas, Payne, Sears, Tristan and Lopez
If we go into this game with the same attitude we have in the previous two, then I can't see anything but a West Ham win. Brom will give us a game and any complacency on our part will be punished. But a strong, professional performance and it will be 3-0 to us, DDM getting two and Savio getting the other. Come on you Irons!!!!!
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