Roger: Quartet Should Go

Roger Cross is confident that West Ham will have four players at the World Cup this summer.

"There is every chance that could happen and it would be fantastic for the club," he says.

"It depends on how they play and they will be watched in every game, that is for sure.

"I think David James is the best goalkeeper in the country and he will certainly be one of the first ones pencilled in."

He denies suggestions that Joe Cole and Michael Carrick are too young to go and make an impression, explaining:

"If you go back to the last World Cup when Michael Owen was just a lad, he set the place alight when he scored the goal against Argentina, and Joe and Michael are capable of doing things like that.

"Trevor Sinclair deserves it because his form lately has been very good; he has looked a real threat, full of energy out wide.

"He has the ability to beat people and causes the defence all sorts of problems, and he has got a chance as well."

As for matters domestic, he says:

"We need the points and it is important we pick something up against Everton.

"It was disappointing to go so long and then throw it away on Saturday; we can't afford to lose tonight and it does add that little bit of pressure.

"We need to improve our away results; it is a must and we have to get on with it.

"There have been a lot of teams that have been in a situation where they are like a fortress at home but just cannot buy a result away.

"It does happen in football and it is difficult to get out of; you just need to scrap a result which we almost did on Saturday.

"We worked very hard to get a point but unfortunately we didn't get one and it hasn't started a run.

"For certain big games this season we have had important players injured and it has happened on a number of occasions - we don't want it to happen too many more times, that is for sure."

The match represents something of a revenge mission after the 5-0 defeat earlier in the season, not to mention the fact that West Ham have only won this fixture twice out of eight occasions in the Premiership.

"The last two home games in the league against Everton haven't been very good; it was 2-0 last season and we took a heavy defeat the year before," says Roger.

"We certainly need to put that behind us and get it sorted out tonight.

"If Gazza plays he is always a threat; Ginola has already been to Upton Park once this season and he had a quiet game, but he is always capable of doing things.

"The spirit has been excellent from day one and the lads really believe they are going to win at home and I feel very confident about that.

"The spirit on Saturday at Villa was very good as well; there was a determination to really fight hard and get something at Villa.

"It was just a real bad error at the end and it was really disappointing to give it away at the end."

The big selection headache is whether there will be space for Jermain Defoe, Paolo Di Canio, AND Fredi Kanoute in the same side now that Jermain is maturing and wanting to play in games from the start.

Says Roger:

"Fredi is now well again and he is important to us; it is a problem Glenn will be happy about, that's for sure."