Daily WHUFC News - 26th October 2013

Swansea City match preview
WHUFC.com
All the need-to-know information ahead of Sunday's match against Swansea
City
25.10.2013

SWANSEA CITY v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2013
KICK-OFF: 4PM
REFEREE: PHIL DOWD
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV

iPHONE APP I TWITTER I FACEBOOK I PODCAST

Introduction
· West Ham United travel to the Liberty Stadium on Sunday looking to make it
two consecutive away wins in the Barclays Premier League.
· A 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 6 October was the
club's last away outing and their first win on their travels this season.
· In their last match the Hammers suffered a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City
at the Boleyn Ground.
· The Hammers have conceded only once away from home this season with that
goal coming via Robbie Brady, who converted a penalty in a 1-0 defeat at the
KC Stadium.
· The players will sport t-shirts celebrating the 150th anniversary of the
FA during the pre-match warm-up.
· In this fixture last year Swansea ran out 3-0 winners at the Liberty
Stadium in Michael Laudrup's second game in charge.
· The Dane has steered his team to tenth place after eight league games,
five places above the Hammers although a West Ham win will see them overtake
the Swans.
· Last time out Swansea recorded a 4-0 home win over Sunderland to record
their first home win of the season.
· The Swans have been inconsistent so far and from their last four games
have two wins and a pair of defeats.

Team news
Swansea City
· Full-back Ben Davies and captain Ashley Williams will miss the game with
ankle injuries.
· Pablo Hernandez may well return after missing the last nine games.

West Ham United
· Alou Diarra, Stephen Henderson and Andy Carroll are definitely out whilst
James Collins may be fit enough to return having missed the Manchester City
game.
· Jack Collison (Bournemouth), Elliot Lee (Colchester), Paul McCallum
(Torquay) and Jordan Spence (MK Dons) are all out on loan.

Background
· West Ham United and Swansea City have met 55 times over a period of 90
years, the Hammers have won 26, Swansea have won 17 and 12 have ended in a
draw.
· The first meeting between the two sides came on 7 January 1922 in the FA
Cup and ended in a 0-0 draw. The replay on 11 January also ended 0-0, and
the two sides met for the third time in nine days on 16 January when Swansea
won 1-0 to progress.
· Joe Cole made his first West Ham debut as a substitute in the 1-1 FA Cup
third-round draw against Swansea City on 2 January 1999.
· The highest scoring game between the two produced nine goals with Swansea
edging it 5-4 at Vetch Field on 2 March 1935.

Last time out
Swansea City 1-1 Kuban Krasnador
UEFA Europa League
24 October 2013
Swansea City: Tremmel, Tiendalli (Rangel), Taylor, Canas, Chico, Amat, Dyer
(Lamah), Shelvey, Bony (Alvaro), Michu, Pozuelo
Subs not used: Vorm, Britton, Monk, De Guzman
Goals: Michu 68

West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City
Barclays Premier League
19 October 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel (O'Brien 65), Reid, Tomkins, Rat, Nolan
(Petric 83), Noble, Morrison, Diame, Downing, Vaz Te (Jarvis 65)
Subs not used: Adrian, Taylor, C Cole, J Cole
Goals: Vaz Te 58

Previous meeting
Andy Carroll inspired West Ham to victory over Swansea City on his return to
the starting line-up. The big striker netted the only goal of the game after
77 minutes to delight the home crowd and move the Hammers up to eleventh
place.

West Ham United 1-0 Swansea City
Barclays Premier League
2 February 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Tomkins, Reid, Taylor, Noble, Diame
(O'Neil), Vaz Te, Nolan (Pogatetz), Jarvis (J Cole), Carroll
Subs not used: Spiegel, C Cole, Collison, Chamakh
Goals: Carroll 77
Swansea City: Tremmel, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Davies, De Guzman, Britton
(Moore), Ki, Hernandez, Michu, Routledge (Dyer)
Subs not used: Cornell, Lamah, Monk, Schecter, Tiendalli,

Head to head
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
2 February 2013 West Ham United 1-0 Swansea City
25 August 2012 Swansea City 3-0 West Ham United
13 January 1999 Swansea City 1-0 West Ham United (FA Cup Third Round Replay)
02 January 1999 West Ham United 1-1 Swansea City (FA Cup Third Round)
07 October 1985 Swansea City 2-3 West Ham United (League Cup Second Round
Second Leg)
24 September 1985 West Ham United 3-0 Swansea City (League Cup Second Round
First Leg)

Overall record v Swansea City (all competitions) W 26 D 12 L 17
Ten-year record
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)

Swansea City
2012/13 Premier League 9th (46 points)
2011/12 Premier League 11th (47 points)
2010/11 Championship 3rd (80 points)
2009/10 Championship 7th (69 points)
2008/09 Championship 8th (68 points)
2007/08 League One 1st (92 points)
2006/07 League One 7th (72 points)
2005/06 League One 6th (71 points)
2004/05 League Two 3rd (80 points)
2003/04 League Two 10th (59 points)
2002/03 League Two 21st (49 points)

Referee
· The referee for Sunday's game will be Phil Dowd.
· Dowd has already taken charge of the Hammers this season, presiding over a
0-0 draw when West Ham played Newcastle at St James Park.
· Dowd is in his 13h season as a Select Group official, having initially
been promoted to the Barclays Premier League list of referees in 2001.
· Dowd began refereeing in local leagues in 1984, officiating in the
Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance. He was appointed
to the Football League list of assistant referees in 1992, before joining
the League's full list of referees in 1997, aged 34.
· The 49-year-old is commonly considered to be one of England's best match
officials, an opinion backed by his appointments as the referee for the 2012
FA Cup and 2010 Football League Cup finals.
· Previously, Dowd was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final between
West Ham United and Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
· The man in the middle will be assisted by Richard West and Marc Perry, and
his fourth official will be Roger East.
General information
· Tickets for this fixture are now sold out.
·The weather forecast for Sunday afternoon is cloudy with a maximum
temperature of 14C.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Big Sam on: Swansea City
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce attended his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's trip
to Wales
25.10.2013

Sam Allardyce has faced the media ahead of Sunday's trip to the Liberty
Stadium to face Swansea City in the Barclays Premier League. The West Ham
United manager was quizzed on the latest team news, Mark Noble's chances of
an England call-up and Sir Alex Ferguson's book.

Morning Sam, what's the team news ahead of Sunday's game?

SA: "Our injury news is not too bad. We've got no new injuries from what we
had last week. We've still got Alou Diarra, James Collins and George
McCartney out with injury and of course Andy Carroll who everyone knows is
our long term injury. We could do with those players back as quickly as we
can as we're a little light on numbers. Jack Collison will come back from a
loan at the end of this weekend to join back with us after a few very
valuable first team games at Bournemouth as we've got a heavy week. We've
got games Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday so we've got a big week ahead of us.
The players that are available are in good spirits but we could do with the
other players being back fit as quick as possible."

How's Andy Carroll coming along? Reports are surfacing that he's finished
his treatment in Belgium - is that right?

SA: "No, it's not true as he's still got a while to go yet. We'd hope that
he'd be back with us in the next two to three weeks and hopefully that would
be a shout that he could start full training when he does come back. It's
always been a week-by-week assessment, we send one of our physiotherapists
out there every week to monitor his progress on a weekly basis."

How's his morale, as I'm sure it must be a difficult period for him?

SA: "He's frustrated of course. I think he's desperate to play football
again which is what he loves doing most of all. And of course we'll be only
too pleased to get him back in amongst the squad when we get the chance.
Carlton Cole played another game in the Under-21s which they won again last
Monday. Our Under-21s are top of the league which is great news from the
younger end of the football club developing and we've let a few of the
younger players go out on loan this week on the basis of their performances
in the Under-21s. Things are alright apart from we haven't got as many
points on the board as we should have."

You've been persisting without and out-and-out striker, are you likely to
continue that on Sunday?

SA: "I wouldn't say I've persisted because it's only been two games out of
eight. It worked very, very well in the first game and didn't work quite so
well in the second so it'll be our choice in the next two days on whether we
do change the system we play or we don't."

Do you think Carlton Cole is ready to be involved?

SA: "He's ready to be involved in the squad but I don't think he's ready to
start from a match fitness point of view. Carlton's experience, if needed
off the subs bench, could be invaluable at the moment so he'll be in the
squad for Sunday."

Sir Alex Ferguson's book has been in the news as well this week, were you
featured in it originally?

SA: "Yes, I think I got left out! I'm looking forward to getting my free
copy as he said he forgot to put me in it so I'm looking forward to reading
it when it comes out. I'll be trotting down to the launch on 1 November to
see him more than anything else."

Swansea played in the Europa League last night, might that aid you on
Sunday?

SA: "There's a chance it can there's no doubt about that. Having experienced
the same situation myself when I was at Bolton the most difficult game to
win was always the one after we'd played in Europe. He did make a lot of
changes, six changes to the side that beat Sunderland so we'll have to wait
and see.
"If there is any advantage we might be able to take with a few of their
players having a bit of fatigue then hopefully we can capitalise on that.
It's really about our players going and playing as well as they know they
can and that's line has been set by the performance at Tottenham and I'll be
looking for the players to achieve that at Swansea. If we can achieve that
type of performance then we'll give them a hell of a game."

Swansea haven't had a great home record up until they beat Sunderland 4-0 in
their last match. Do you focus on their last game or consider that they're
relatively weak at home?

SA: "Well I think prior to the Sunderland game I would have talked to the
players about any nervous frailties they might have suffered because of the
time they have gone without winning at home. I suppose it sounds a lot
longer than it really was, because there was a break when this record was
calculated from last season into this season. They'll have taken a lot of
confidence from the fact they ended up breaking down Sunderland and getting
four goals so that fear might now have left them. "It's always a difficult
game. They've had a terrific amount of progress over a few years and haven't
looked back for many, many years and they have some really good players.
Michael [Laudrup] will be expecting them to try and turn home games into
another victory and our format is to go and play like we did against
Tottenham and see if we can win the game. Certainly we need to get some
points out of it because we're way down on the points total I expected after
the first eight games. It's a big game for us to make sure we play our best
and get some points out of."

How much better were you hoping to have done by this stage of the season?

SA: "Well I couldn't knock the performances too much but I think we're about
four points short of what we should have achieved. My huge concern is the
fact that we've lost three home games on the trot, that never happened last
season, we only lost four all season at home. That's my biggest worry, our
away performances have been very good but our results haven't matched the
performances. We should of beat Newcastle, we certainly shouldn't have lost
against Hull City we had a good draw at Southampton and a great win against
Tottenham. We've got to make sure we give our all in the Premier League
because we're a 100 per cent team and we need to play at 100 per cent to win
a game of football in the Premier League."

Is it as simple as taking the opportunity of having more shots on target as
you only had two against Manchester City?

SA: "There's no doubt about that. We had 17 attempts and only two on target
and that tells you the story of our incapacity to turn opportunities,
certainly at the end, to put the goalkeeper under pressure. It's well
documented that Joe Hart has recently made a few errors that he doesn't
normally make and my message to the players was try and test him as much as
we possibly can. You can only do that with your attempts being on target and
that may cause the goalkeeper to make a mistake again but we didn't do that
sufficiently enough."

Mark Noble has said this week that he believes he has the ability and the
maturity to play for England, do you agree with that?

SA: "Yes, I don't disagree with that. He's got to continue to perform at a
consistent level and of course between now and next summer his performances
will have to be consistently of the highest quality to attract the attention
of Roy Hodgson. If he thinks he can do that then he's put a huge amount of
pressure on himself to make sure he performs at his highest level which has
always been very good for us."

In general do you think West Ham players are overlooked when it comes to
England selection?

SA: "No I don't. If we had 12 points now instead of eight those players
would be talked about an awful lot more. At the end of the day people talk
about performances and how to play the game of football but ultimately if
you achieve the results at the end of those performances that's where the
attention comes from. If you don't get the points that's when the
performances are quickly and easily forgotten. In the end performances have
to produce results which produces attention in the right way and it gets
people looking to come and watch your players do what they're doing,
certainly at international level."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid on clocking up the air miles, Swansea City and New Zealand's
FIFA World Cup Play-Off
25.10.2013


Hello everyone,
I've had a busy few weeks with West Ham United and New Zealand. I've got
used to all the travelling with my national team now, as I've been away a
lot of times. It can be physically and mentally demanding spending hours at
airports and on planes, but it is all part of the job of being a national
team player and, in my case, captain. Obviously it would be best for the
Club if I stayed here and it is tough, but you have to go away and come back
and be professional and I've got no excuses for my performance against
Manchester City because I was OK.

During the international break, we played a training match in Los Angeles,
then travelled to Trinidad and Tobago for a friendly international. While we
were there, we found out we would be playing Mexico next month in a
two-legged Intercontinental Play-Off, with the winners going to next year's
World Cup.
It's going to be difficult against Mexico because they've been to a lot of
World Cups and we have only been to two, so it's not going to be easy. We're
going to go there for the first leg and hopefully we can get a result, then
take them back to New Zealand and do the business there.

Obviously Mexico will not be the same as they were before, but they are
still going to be a good side and we're going to have to be up for it, give
110 per cent and see how far it takes us. We play them at the Azteca
Stadium, which is going to be good and exciting to play there, but the most
important thing is for us to get to the World Cup. We play the first leg
away from home, but we'll have to wait and see if that's an advantage.
Either way, it's going to be tough. My travel itinerary is pretty
interesting! I fly from London to Los Angeles, then Los Angeles to Mexico
City, back to Los Angeles, then to Auckland for the second leg in
Wellington. On the way back, it's the reverse, flying from Auckland to Los
Angeles and then on to London. I'll definitely get some Air Miles for all
that!
Before that, we go to Swansea City on Sunday and they have got a good team
and finished well last year. We've got to do better than we did against
Manchester City and up our levels.

Looking back at last weekend, at the end of the day Manchester City were a
better side than we were and we didn't play up to the same level as we did
at Tottenham. They were simply better than us. Every away game is tough but,
to be fair, I think the boys have done well away from home this season and
if we can keep those sort of performances up, we can take something away
from Swansea. It will be tough, though, because they're a good side. Swansea
did really well to win the Capital One Cup last season and qualify for
Europe, so credit to them. For us, we want to climb the league because our
start hasn't been the best. Hopefully we can kick on in the next couple of
games.

Swansea's manager Michael Laudrup is a legend back in Denmark, where I grew
up. He's the biggest player they have ever had and he played for a lot of
big clubs - Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Ajax - and did well for the
national team as well, particularly at the 1986 World Cup. He is always
going to be a legend and there are a lot of Danes who follow Swansea because
of him. I never tried to be him in the school playground, though, as I
always stayed at the back as a defender!

I wish a safe and successful journey to the Hammers fans travelling to
Swansea on Sunday and hope all of you have a great weekend.
Come on you Irons!
Reidy

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
U18 duo ready for Teesside trip
WHUFC.com
Kieran Bywater and Kyle Knoyle are hoping the Under-18s can continue their
winning run on Saturday
25.10.2013

West Ham United make the long journey up to Middlesbrough this weekend
looking to extend their Barclays U18 Premier League winning run to five
games.
Steve Potts' side have won four consecutive games to shake off a slow start
to the season which saw them win just once in their opening six matches.
Ten goals in ten games from Kieran Bywater have played a major role in
reversing the team's fortunes and the midfielder cannot quite believe his
rich vein of scoring form.

Bywater told West Ham TV: "I would have taken the ten goals at the start of
the season for the whole season! "Obviously I have to keep working hard and
keep helping the team. The goals aren't just all my own work obviously all
the other players have been setting up goals. "I've just been fortunate
enough to get a few good goals myself."

While the captain's run of six goals in his last four games has stolen the
headlines other players in the squad have received recognition of a
different kind.
Right-back Kyle Knoyle represented England U18s earlier this month when he
played the full 90 minutes of a 4-0 friendly win over Hungary. Knoyle was
joined in the squad by Hammers centre-back Reece Burke and he was
justifiably pleased with his selection. "It was an honour to represent
England and hopefully I can get some more caps. The experience itself was a
once in a lifetime opportunity."

With both players seemingly thriving under the guidance of Steve Potts, Mark
Phillips and Tony Carr, the team is going from strength to strength. While
four wins on the bounce have kick-started their season, both players feel as
though they were not getting the results their performances deserved during
their first few games. "We lost 1-0 to Sunderland and we played some great
football and should have come away with a result" explained Knoyle. "From
there we've kept going from the Liverpool game [which we won 5-0] and just
kept cracking on. There's a great atmosphere at the moment and everyone's
really pleased.
"We thought we should be getting the results but now that they've been
coming we just need to crack on from here and keep the atmosphere as it is."

Bywater echoed the thoughts of his team-mate and is hopeful the team will
return to east London with three points from their trip to Teesside. He
said: "We were unfortunate with some of the games at the beginning of the
season. "The performances were there but maybe it was just the finishing or
a little bit of class missing that we didn't quite have but it's clicked in
recent weeks. "We've got four wins on the bounce and hopefully we can make
it five on the weekend."

*West Ham TV will show exclusive highlights from Saturday's Barclays U18
Premier League trip to Middlesbrough on Monday.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea v West Ham
KO 16:00
25 October 2013
Last updated at 14:50
By Steve Bower
BBC Match of the Day commentator

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Liberty Stadium Date: Sunday, 27 October

Swansea manager Michael Laudrup must decide whether to play Ashley Williams,
who has missed the last five weeks with an ankle injury. Pablo Hernadez
finally looks set to play after a hamstring problem but Ben Davies (ankle)
is out.

West Ham could be unchanged from the side that was beaten by Manchester City
last weekend. Carlton Cole is not yet match fit, while Andy Carroll, James
Collins, Alou Diarra and George McCartney remain out.

MATCH PREVIEW

With just five league wins between them this fixture offers an opportunity
for both sides to claim a significant victory. For Swansea it would be
back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time in 2013, while having
lost four of their last six, it would be a welcome return to winning ways
for West Ham. Swansea's 4-0 win over Sunderland last weekend was their first
home Premier League win in nine attempts. They have remained unbeaten and
indeed impressed in their Europa League campaign yet it could be argued it
is affecting domestic matters. "The problem for Hammers boss Sam Allardyce
is getting his team to pose a goal threat. They were superb in their win
over Tottenham but were lacking up front in their defeat by Manchester City
last time out."

Ever since their arrival in the top flight, the Liberty Stadium has been a
destination where any team has had to play well to get a result, and Michael
Laudrup will know that reputation and foundation has to remain in place to
get close to last season's ninth-placed league position. The four goals
against Sunderland were a lift too, having scored only six in the previous
seven league matches as record signing Wilfred Bony and Michu still work on
their understanding.
Either man would be welcomed by Sam Allardyce at the moment in the continued
absence of Andy Carroll. The progress on his record signing's fitness must
be top of the West Ham manager's weekly questions.

So far this season Maiga, Vaz Te and Petric have tried unsuccessfully to
fill the void, with the return of Carlton Cole an added option. It makes the
3-0 win at Tottenham in their last away game an even more outstanding
result. I watched them previously in defeat at Hull, where they were
unlucky, but had they been more clinical in front of goal could have been
out of sight. The consistent emergence of Ravel Morrison has been a huge
positive, as has the recent return to fitness of Stewart Downing. Swansea
face their third game in eight days and if the Hammers can rediscover that
White Hart Lane formula they will move above the Swans in the table.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Swansea beat West Ham 3-0 in their first home game of last season with Michu
scoring his first goal at the Liberty Stadium.
The Hammers have only won four of their 22 league trips to Swansea (D4,
L14).
This fixture has traditionally produced goals; an average of 3.5 goals per
game have been scored across the previous 44 league meetings.
Swansea
Swansea are looking to win back-to-back league games for the first time
since December last year.
All three league wins by Michael Laudrup's side this season have come when
they have kept clean sheets.
There have been more goals scored at the Liberty Stadium this season (16)
than at any other Premier League ground.
The Swans have drawn only once this season - only games involving Palace
(none) have resulted in fewer draws.
West Ham
West Ham are looking to win successive away matches in the Premier League
for the first time since December 2007.
The Hammers have conceded just one away goal in four league matches -Robbie
Brady's controversial penalty at Hull.
Sam Allardyce's side are six points down on this stage of last season when
they had 14 points from their opening eight games.
West Ham have the worst shooting accuracy in the Premier League this season
(29.6%).

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham's Andy Carroll back training in 'two to three weeks'
BBC.co.uk

Sam Allardyce says West Ham striker Andy Carroll could be back training
within a fortnight. The 24-year-old has yet to feature for the Hammers this
season because of a heel injury, which has required treatment both in Europe
and the USA. "We hope he'll be back with us in the next two to three weeks,"
said the West Ham manager. "Hopefully that would be a shout that he could
start full training when he does come back."

Allardyce added: "He is frustrated of course and is desperate to be playing
football again. It's what he loves doing most. I will only be too pleased to
get him back in the squad." The England international, who picked up the
injury during the final game of last season, started 22 Premier League games
for the Hammers during the 2012-13 campaign, while on loan from Liverpool,
scoring seven times. He sealed a £15m permanent move from the Reds during
the summer.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea take on West Ham at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday
Last Updated: October 25, 2013 1:26pm
SSN

West Ham travel to Swansea on Sunday looking for a win to leapfrog their
opponents in the Premier League table. Sam Allardyce's side currently sit in
15th in the table with eight points from their opening eight league games.
The Hammers go into the game on the back of a 3-1 home defeat by Manchester
City last time but will take confidence from their last match on the road -
a 3-0 win at previously unbeaten Tottenham. But it will be tough against a
Swans side who are unbeaten in three games in all competitions at home. That
run began with a 1-0 win over St Gallen in the Europa League and Michael
Laudrup's side followed up with a 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland in the Premier
League and Thursday's last-gasp 1-1 Europa League draw against Kuban
Krasnodar. The Swans climbed to 11th in the table with the mauling of the
Black Cats - with ten points from their opening eight games - and Laudrup
will be eyeing another three points at home.

Paul Merson's prediction

West Ham have had an up-and-down period. They had a great win at Tottenham,
but got beat by Man City and I think Swansea will win on Sunday. They may be
a little light at the back if Ashley Williams and Ben Davies are out, but
Sam Allardyce doesn't really play with forwards so that might not be much of
a problem. It's got to be a home win this one.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0

Swansea Badge Swansea
Last 6
Kuban (h)1-1
Sunderland (h)4-0
Southampton (a)2-0
St Gallen (h)1-0
Arsenal (h)1-2
3-1

Swansea boss Michael Laudrup must decide whether to risk Ashley Williams in
Sunday's clash with West Ham. The Wales defender has been sidelined for
almost five weeks due to an ankle ligament problem, but took part in
training earlier this week with Laudrup hoping to give his captain some
match action before the south Wales derby against Cardiff. Left-back Ben
Davies remains out until after the international break with a badly sprained
ankle. But on a more positive note, Pablo Hernandez could finally get back
on the pitch after a hamstring problem.

West Ham Badge West Ham
Last 6
Man City (h)1-3
Tottenham (a)0-3
Hull City (a)1-0
Cardiff (h)3-2
Everton (h)2-3
Southampton (a)0-0

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has confirmed the club have got no new injuries
from last week. He said: "We've still got Alou Diarra, James Collins and
George McCartney out with injury and of course Andy Carroll who everyone
knows is our long-term injury. "We could do with those players back as
quickly as we can as we're a little light on numbers." To bolster numbers
going forward, Jack Collison will come back from a loan spell at Bournemouth
at the end of this weekend.

Opta Facts

Swansea City will be looking to win successive Barclays Premier League games
for the first time since December 1st 2012.
West Ham have not won back-to-back Barclays Premier League away games since
December 2007
The last three competitive meetings between Swansea and West Ham have seen
the home side win whilst keeping a clean sheet

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Rumours of Andy Carroll's immninent return not true according to Sam
Allardyce
Last Updated: October 25, 2013 5:48pm
SSN

Sam Allardyce has played down reports Andy Carroll could be back in his West
Ham plans as early as next week. The England striker is yet to feature for
the Hammers this season after suffering a problem with his foot which has
needed treatment from some of the top specialists Europe and the United
States can offer. Reports suggested Carroll could return to training after
their clash with Swansea on Sunday but Allardyce was quick to quash any
rumours. "The stories that Andy Carroll is returning to us this week are not
true," the West Ham boss said. "There is still a while to go there. He'll be
back we hope in the next two to three weeks. Hopefully he can start full
training when he does come back. It's always been a week-by-week assessment.
"He is frustrated of course and is desperate to be playing football again,
it's what he loves doing most. I will only be too pleased to get him back in
the squad."

West Ham's other forwards have struggled for goals in Carroll's absence and
Allardyce played without a recognised striker in their last two games, a 3-0
win over Spurs and a 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester City. "It's worked
very well in the first game, not so well in second," he said. "It will be
our choice in the next few days about whether we change the system. "Carlton
Cole played another under-21 game last Monday. Our under-21s are top of the
league, that's great news from the younger end. "I don't think Cole is ready
to start from a match fitness point of view but his experience from the
bench is invaluable at the moment."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea boss Michael Laudrup respects Sam Allardyce's style of play ahead of
Hammers clash
25 Oct 2013 22:30
The Mirror

Michael Laudrup has revealed his admiration for the way Sam Allardyce sticks
to his his principles in the cut-throat industry of management. West Ham
boss Allardyce is often associated with a direct style of play. But stylish
Laudrup believes the Hammers boss deserves respect for his beliefs on the
game. Laudrup said: "I like managers and teams who are very clear about what
they want. I always respect that. There is not one truth in football. "But
there are some managers who say one thing and do another. Sam Allardyce is
very honest about what he wants and what he asks from his players. "You can
see what he wants and they are a strong, physical side." Swansea face West
Ham for the club's third home game in a week and aim to be unbeaten
following a win over Sunderland and a midweek Europa League draw against
Russian outfit Kuban Krasnodar. But Laudrup is wary of the Londoners on the
road following their previous away-day success at Tottenham. He added: "We
want a positive result on Sunday as West Ham are in 'our league' and we're
at home. It is a big chance to get points if we can. "But it will be a tough
one. They are strong and they showed that in the last game they played away
at Tottenham."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

http://vyperz.blogspot.com



---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com