Glenn Raises Hopes

Glenn Roeder knows that he has raised expectations for next season as the Hammers draw this campaign to a close with a top nine finish guaranteed and seventh place still possible.

He says: "That goes with having a relatively good season and it does prove that when we can keep everyone fit we have got a team worth watching.

"But we have to improve in two areas - the depth of the squad, and the quality as well.

"It is no good just getting more players in if they are not up to it. It is so important that when we pick up injuries we can cope, so that if you have three or four injuries the players that come in can do equally as well as the ones they have replaced."

Glenn says he is using this fortnight to mull over decisions about which soon-to-be out of contract players he will retain or release, and adds: "There are one or two I am still thinking long and hard about and I still have a couple of weeks to absolutely make my mind up regarding who will be offered a new contract and who won't.

"I have got to be sure that the players I am releasing are replaced by better ones. There is no point letting players go and then suddenly finding that the players you bring in are not up to the standard of the ones you have released.

"It is a very fine balancing act and we have worked hard on the scouting side to put a list together of potential targets - and most of those will be of the higher quality Bosmans who are out of contract.

"We hope we can attract them and that is why it is important we finish seventh. If there are players, particularly from Europe, who will look at the final placings and if we finish seventh it will encourage them to come to us."

Glenn of course hopes that seventh place can be achieved with a win over Bolton on the last day and adds: "It's nice to finish with a home game. Bolton played well against Fulham recently and their players will have gone off the field shaking their heads because, although they were beaten 3-0, it was never a 3-0 game."