Daily WHUFC News - 7th January 2018

Shrewsbury Town v West Ham United: All you need to know
WHUFC.com

West Ham United open their 2017/18 FA Cup campaign with a third round test against Shrewsbury Town.

Read on for everything you need to know about this weekend's Cup contest.

Where and when?

West Ham United will take on Shrewsbury Town at Montgomery Waters Meadow on Sunday 7 January 2018.

This FA Cup clash is scheduled for a 2pm kick-off.

How to follow:

The Hammers' third round FA Cup match has been selected for television and will be shown live on BBC One, with coverage beginning at 1.40pm.

Live match updates will be provided through the official West Ham Twitter account.

You can also follow the game live via our Matchday Blog on whufc.com.

You can also follow the match on our official Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat channels.

Live commentary can also be found on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Team news:

With this match with Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup Third Round West Ham's third contest in six days, manager David Moyes will be tempted to alternate his squad, meaning a number of youngsters could get a chance.

Domingos Quina, Sead Haksabanovic, Moses Makasi and Toni Martinez were all in the matchday squad against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, and each will be keen on impressing the manager in training in the hope of getting a chance on Sunday.

What they say:
"When I was in Sweden, I always watched games from the FA Cup, as well as the Premier League, so I know quite a lot about it. It's a big game for me and a big game for the Club."
Sead Haksabanovic

Match Officials:

Referee: Paul Tierney
Assistant Referees: Steve Child and Mark Scholes
Fourth Official: Robert Madley

Last Four Meetings:


Shrewsbury Town 0-2 West Ham, League Division Two, February 7 1981
West Ham 3-0 Shrewsbury Town, League Division Two, September 13 1980
West Ham 1-3 Shrewsbury Town, League Division Two, April 26 1980
Shrewsbury Town 3-0 West Ham, League Division Two, December 15 1979
How to get there:

Trains from London Euston to Shrewsbury take roughly three hours and include one change, at Crewe. It is roughly a 2.5 mile walk from the Shrewsbury Station to Montgomery Waters Meadow.

By Train
Follow the M1 to Junction 19 before joining the M6 and head west, linking up with the M54. Follow the A5 and then join the B4380, and the Stadium will be on your left.

By Car
Any other information:

The Fourth Round draw for the FA Cup is scheduled to take place on Monday 8 January at 7pm.

The draw will be live on BT Sport 2 and BBC2 with West Ham United set to be draw ball 24, should the Hammers be included.

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Betway Insider's View of the Opposition - Shrewsbury Town
WHUFC.com

West Ham's last four league matches have produced 16 goals, but there's no guarantee of such entertainment at Shrewsbury Town on Sunday. League One's surprise package have built their promotion push on an outstanding defensive record, conceding just four goals in their 12 home matches so far. And the Shrews will have no choice but to adopt a similar approach if they are to enjoy any success against a top-tier side in West Ham. The Hammers eased to a solid, if unspectacular, 2-0 victory at Cheltenham in the EFL Cup earlier this season, against a lower standard of opponent with similar intentions.

So under 2.5 goals looks a safe bet again.

Andre Ayew was on the scoresheet at Whaddon Road that night, and is capable of repeating the trick in this one. Moyes admitted that Andy Carroll was too tired to start on Thursday, while Chicharito could be rested after working hard during his hour-long stint at Wembley. That should pave the way for Ayew – who has notched two more goals in the cup since that game at Cheltenham – to start up front, and score for the second time in two weeks.

Paul Hurst's side will prove a tough nut to crack, though. Other than in the EFL trophy, they have not trailed at half-time since the end of October, drawing 0-0 at the break in six of those eleven matches. Considering the hosts' aforementioned defensive record, it is perfectly possible that the Hammers will have to remain patient in their bid to break down their in-form opponents.

Recommended bets
Under 2.5 goals – 3/4
Andre Ayew to score – 21/10
Half-time/Full-time: Draw/West Ham – 4/1

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Haksabanovic: FA Cup tie is a big opportunity to impress
WHUFC.com

Sead Haksabanovic is determined to take the opportunity to show David Moyes what he can do in Sunday's Emirates FA Cup third-round tie at Shrewsbury Town. The exciting Montenegro international attacking midfielder is set to be given a chance to impress at the New Meadow, alongside a number of West Ham United's other promising young professionals. Declan Rice, Domingos Quina and Toni Martinez could also be part of the squad which travels to Shropshire, and 18-year-old Haksabanovic says they are all eager to prove their worth to manager Moyes, should they be given the chance to play against the League One high-fliers. "Hopefully I will play and I'm really excited about the prospect of showing what I can do, as it's a big game for me and a big game for the Club," said the No23, whose only previous first-team appearance was a Carabao Cup third-round start against Bolton Wanderers back in September. "I played my first game against Bolton and I was a bit nervous, but I think I did quite well, so it would be good to get another opportunity. It will be important for me to show the manager what I can, because I want to play. And if I want to play, I need to take that opportunity."

Growing up in Sweden, Haksabanovic made his senior debut for first club Halmstads BK in a Swedish Cup tie at Vasteras in February 2015, aged just 15 years and nine months. He was also an avid watcher of English football, including the world's most-famous knockout competition, and is excited about the prospect of making his bow in the FA Cup this weekend. "When I was in Sweden, I always watched games from the FA Cup, as well as the Premier League, so I know quite a lot about it. "The biggest thing I can remember are the finals are played at Wembley, so I'd love to play there. I am too young to remember when Freddie Ljungberg, who also came from my old club Halmstads, and scored a brilliant goal for Arsenal in the final in 2002!"

Aside from his Bolton appearance, Haksabanovic has been named in four Premier League squads, started four times in the Checkatrade Trophy and caught the eye in five appearances in Premier League 2 Division 1 this season. Training with the first-team squad on a daily basis, including his mentor Marko Arnautovic, the teenager has enjoyed being part of things under Moyes and his coaching staff and believes the Hammers' recent upturn in form will continue. "The players have been doing well and the team has been performing well and collecting points. We have improved a lot and we are showing that we can do more and win games. We have a good squad and should be higher in the table, but I think that will come with time. "Marko is helping me a lot, of course. It's good to have him here, as he's helped me a lot, not only with my game but also with a lot of things outside of football. It has made it much easier to settle in England, for sure."

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Rice: I couldn't believe I was Man of the Match!
WHUFC.com

The 'pinch yourself' moments keep on coming for Declan Rice in his first full season of senior football. Picked to start at Wembley as the Hammers took on Tottenham Hotspur in a London derby on Thursday, the 18-year-old turned in a mature and composed performance in the 1-1 draw – one which earned him the Premier League's official Man of the Match award. The defender's reaction to the accolade was a mixture of pride and disbelief and his phenomenal development continues at great pace. He explained: "When I got told I was Man of the Match on the way out, I thought 'Really?!' It's an amazing feeling to pick up my first Man of the Match in the Premier League and hopefully it's the first of many. "As a team I thought we were excellent on Thursday. It was a well-deserved point and we were unlucky not to take three points from the game. "I've played Spurs twice at Wembley now this season and taken a lot of experience from the two games. I never thought I'd play at Wembley as a young boy, so I'm very pleased with how I did on Thursday."

The Hammers' commitment and resilience was clear to see at the national stadium and Rice said the manager's approach was spot on. He continued: "We've all really taken to the manager and his backroom staff and we listen to what they say. We got the gameplan right on Thursday, we frustrated them, the fans got frustrated and it was great to get the draw. "You have to hold their hands up for the goal and say 'what a great strike'. Other than that I don't remember them having too much. We put our bodies on the line and that's all we could ask for. "And for us, what a strike it was from Pedro! I was right behind it when he hit it and it's just hit the top corner. I'm so happy for him, he's a proper good guy and he's doing really well for us."
Next up is Sunday's Emirates FA Cup trip to League One Shrewsbury Town and Rice is looking forward to his first taste of the competition. "We went back in on Friday to get ready for the Shrewsbury game," he added. "We had a recovery session on Friday, train on Saturday and then it's a massive game on Sunday. "We want to have a good cup run this year, so let's go to Shrewsbury and get the win."

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EARLY TEAM NEWS FOR THE CUP GAME
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 6 JANUARY 2018 AT 6:54PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk

West Ham travelled with a number of academy players to Shrewsbury Town although most are expected to be on the bench. The youngsters who travelled are: Quina, Martinez, Samuelson, Haksabanovic, Makasi, Diangana and Neufville. Declan Rice, Josh Cullen and Reece Burke have also travelled as well and those three are expected to start the game.

Moyes has already confirmed that Joe Hart will be in goal for the match against the club that he started career with and the rest of the team is made up with very experienced players with only a few changes from the Spurs game and not the predicted "wholesale" changes that others are speculating on. Players who have had recent "knocks" or "minor injuries" will not be risked. We release our "predicted" line up an hour and a half before the kick off when we know that the teams have been exchanged between the managers.

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EXWHUEXCLUSIVE: BURKE AND CULLEN'S DILEMMA
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 6 JANUARY 2018 AT 6:24PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk

Reece Burke and Josh Cullen have both returned to West Ham from Bolton (as I exclusively revealed on the podcast). The players, especially Burke, had a number of clubs who wanted to then take him on loan or even purchase him from us. Reece was attracting attention from the likes of Ipswich, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland. This will now not be possible until the summer because both players are expected to START against Shrewsbury in the cup tomorrow with Burke likely to be at right back and Cullen in midfield. FIFA rules state that whilst a player can be registered for three different clubs in one season they can only feature in competitive matches for two therefore having both played for Bolton this year, when they play for us they will have reached the two club limit.

This will mean that they only have two options for the rest of the season: remain at West Ham and try to convince the manager/chairman not to sell them or to return to Bolton where their manager is desperate to keep them both and has already spoke to both players. It is expected that they will return to Bolton to complete the season but should they turn in some good performances tomorrow it will give both them and Moyes a dilemma.

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NEWCASTLE PONDERING JANUARY MOVE FOR JOE HART
ELLIOTT CUFF @CuffWrites
ReadWestHam

Fellow Premier League side Newcastle United are interested in signing Joe Hart, who has fallen out of favour at the London Stadium. According to the Mirror, Rafa Benitez was interested in signing the England international last summer before he moved to West Ham on a season-long loan. Now that Hart has lost his place to Adrian for the Hammers, the Magpies are making enquiries with Manchester City to take him off their hands. It would take both West Ham and the Citizens to agree to end Hart's current loan deal.
West Ham may be keen to shift the 30-year old, who is a considerable drain on the London club's wage budget. They may look to terminate his loan to free up space for January incomings. City will also be looking to get Hart as much game time as possible, ahead of potentially selling him on in the summer, and Hart himself will be desperate for minutes ahead of next summer's World Cup.

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'He's not overly happy': David Moyes comments on West Ham's Joe Hart
HITC
Antony Martin
@antonymmartin84

The West Ham ace has lost his place in the team to Adrian recently. Hammers boss David Moyes spoke to reporters ahead of his side's third round FA Cup clash with Shrewsbury Town tomorrow, and admitted that Joe Hart is not happy with his current situation at the club, as quoted by WHUFC.com. The 30-year-old has played second fiddle to Adrian over the past month, and with the 2018 World Cup just five months away, he will surely be concerned about his chances of making Gareth Southgate's starting XI for the tournament. The problem for Hart is that Adrian has performed incredibly well since being given his chance by Moyes, and if the Spaniard continues to do just that, the Englishman's chances of forcing his way back in the side will be slim.

Moyes addressed the media yesterday during his pre-match press conference, and insisted that despite Hart's unhappiness, he will undoubtedly be given plenty of chances to impress from now until the end of the campaign, as quoted by WHUFC.com: "Joe will play on Sunday, but Joe will play a lot of Premier League games this season as well. I'm sure he's not overly happy with the current situation, but he's a top professional and I'm sure he's had an understudy to him for 90 per cent of his career and I think he's acting in a really good manner."

Tomorrow's game at Shrewsbury will be a special one for Hart. The 30-year-old began his career at New Meadow, and he will be hoping to produce an inspired display against his boyhood club - one that will help him force his way back into the Hammers starting XI over the coming weeks and months.

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