AS the Hammers current longest serving player, Christian Dailly is
one of only two in the squad to have played with Manchester City
boss Stuart Pearce
during his spell at Upton Park - the other being newly returned
goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.
The Scottish international also played against Pearce on many occasions during his earlier career, and knows what to expect from the aptly nicknamed 'Psycho'.
"When you hear the Man City players talking about him they hold him in very high esteem, so that rubs off and obviously will make it a tough game for us," said the 31-year-old midfielder.
"I've played with him here, and against him as well, so we all know what Stuart Pearce is like, but he's a manager now not a player."
His managerial skills have been tested at a high level for someone so new to the job, but he has risen to the challenge as well as he used to on the pitch.
"They've got such a good team structure now under Stuart Pearce," said Christian, "so they can afford to lose the odd player from time to time because the whole team doesn't rely on just one player.
"Football's a team game, and if you can build a team, at times it shows it doesn't matter who comes in and who goes out as long as you've got that structure in place, and that's what Man City have."
Christian spent most of last season on the treatment table, and has won his battle to regain full fitness, but now faces the challenge of regaining his place in Alan Pardew's starting line-up.
The Dundee born defender, however, is just delighted that West Ham United have made such a promising start to the new campaign.
"Obviously I'm desperate to play, but there's nothing you can do about that," he said.
"Being injured last season, I've had to come in and bide my time this season, and all I can do, when I get the chance is pull on the jersey, get on the pitch and do the best I can.
"I know I've done that so far and all you can do is be patient."
Pardew has kept with a very settled side so far this season, but it is still early days and Christian knows that with the strength in depth at Upton Park every place is still up for grabs.
"There's a whole host of positions that we have cover for," he explained. "The team know that if they don't perform there will be changes, and that can only be a positive thing for the manager and the Club."