ALAN Pardew has called for some big performances from his players against Watford tomorrow, as the Hammers look to overcome the Hornets despite missing a host of senior players through injury and suspension.
Pards is without defenders Christian Dailly and Malky Mackay, suffering from knee and calf problems respectively, striker Teddy Sheringham who has a thigh injury and forward Don Hutchison, who has suffered a recurrence of his knee problem.
Add to that the absence of Marlon Harewood and Hayden Mullins, both suspended, and Pards' options are limited. However, the Hammers boss knows that the players he puts out against Watford will certainly not let the Club down on Saturday.
"We're staying really positive about Saturday," he insisted, "and I have faith that the players who do go out there will put in some big performances for us.
"It's not an ideal situation with so many first-team players injured. We have six senior players missing for Saturday, and that would leave a big whole in any team. It certainly isn't a good situation to be in coming off the back of two defeats.
"The run of injuries we've had this season has been tough and we've found it hard to keep a consistent team. The back four has changed virtually every game, which it will do again tomorrow, and that has made it very hard to establish a base to the side.
"A solid defence breeds confidence for the team to go forward and attack in numbers. But not being able to field the same team makes establishing continuity very difficult.
"There are no excuses, though, and to be fair we don't want to make a big thing about our injury problems. We have to go out with confidence tomorrow, play to our strengths, and hopefully we can put the last couple of results behind us and come away with a win."
The goals of Teddy Sheringham are a noticeable absence for the Hammers, who have not scored in their last two matches. And Alan admitted his frustration at not having the former England striker available.
"Teddy's thigh is still giving him a problem," admitted Pards. "He went to Manchester for three days to have some treatment. It was a fairly minor injury that is still giving him problems, which is a slight worry. Really it is just a case of giving the injury enough rest and time to heel.
"We are certainly going into tomorrow's game with a small squad, but we know that to be challenging for promotion our squad has to be strong enough to deal with injury problems.
"The experience of players like Steve Lomas will be really important tomorrow, but also we're going to be looking to the likes of Bobby Zamora, Matty Etherington and Sergei Rebrov to show us what they can do going forward.
"It will be a tough game against Watford, but there are
some excellent players in this squad, and I'm confident that
they won't let us down."
Watford will certainly pose a stern test. The Hornets are unbeaten
in 11 games and go into tomorrow's match off the back of a
credible 2-2 draw at Leeds United.
"Ray Lewington and his staff have done an excellent job at
Watford," said Pards. "They are in great form right now
and come to Upton Park with lots of confidence. They play the game
at a very high tempo, so we'll need to work extremely hard
against them, and make sure we take control of the game early
on.
"With quite a few changes to the side, we'll need the fans to really get behind us tomorrow, and hopefully we can get the win that everybody so desperately wants."
Youngsters Elliott Ward, Trent McClenahan, Youssef Sofiane and
Greg Pearson are all added to the squad this weekend, as is veteran
defender Andy Melville.
The team to play Watford tomorrow will be chosen from the following
squad:
Bywater (GK), Walker (GK), Repka, Fletcher, C Powell, Chadwick, Lomas, D Powell, Ward, McClenahan, Rebrov, Etherington, Reo-Coker, Zamora, Ferdinand, Melville, Sofiane, Noble, Pearson.
West Ham United v Watford at Upton Park, kick-off 3.00pm