Barclays Premier League
West Ham United v West Bromwich Albion
The Hawthorns
Saturday 13 September
3pm
Referee: Lee Probert
WHUTV - Full audio commentary
Introduction
* West Ham United will look to make it four wins in five games in all competitions when they travel to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon. They will be led by caretaker manager Kevin Keen ahead of the official arrival of Gianfranco Zola on Monday.
* The club are looking to continue their best start to a Premier League season for nine years by securing their third win from four top-flight games. A win would mean the best start since 1999 and the possibility of going top of the table.
* West Bromwich Albion, who currently sit joint-bottom of the fledgling Premier League table with Tottenham Hotspur, are looking to record their first win of the campaign. If they fail to do that it would be their worst ever start to a Premier League campaign.
* Keen said: "I'm honoured that the club asked me to be caretaker manager ... It's a great opportunity for me and hopefully everything will go really well and I'm sure it will. I'm ambitious. I want to make sure that this club keeps going in the right direction."
* Peter Grant, the West Bromwich Albion assistant manager, will be facing the team he served for three seasons under Alan Pardew. Speaking to the official West Brom website, he said: "West Ham take pride in the way they play. The fans can accept you lose if you play well. If you play exciting, attacking football then the fans will applaud you whatever the result, even though they want to win ... it is a fantastic club."
* Both teams secured impressive results in their last outings. West Ham United scored four for the second match in a row to send Blackburn Rovers to a 4-1 defeat at the Boleyn Ground. West Bromwich Albion secured their first point of the season in a hard fought 0-0 draw at Bolton Wanderers.
* The visitors have a 100 per cent record at the Hawthorns in the Barclays Premier League with two wins from two games. However, they will be looking to end a run of four straight defeats in a row away from the Boleyn Ground.
* West Bromwich Albion have not beaten West Ham United at home since a 5-1 win on 4 May 1985. The last time they got the better of the east London side was in a high-scoring encounter at the Boleyn Ground in the Championship in November 2003, which they won 4-3. Two goals from Brian Deane and one from Jermain Defoe gave the home side an early 3-0 lead.
* The visitors staged a dramatic comeback though, scoring four goals as Defoe was sent off just before half-time. The other game that season was a 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns when a second-half strike from Deane was cancelled out by a late Hayden Mullins own goal.
* Newcastle United at the Boleyn Ground on 20 September are up next for the visitors while a Midlands derby at home to Aston Villa awaits the Baggies on the following day.
* If Mark Noble plays it will be his 50th Premier League appearance for United.
Last time out
Saturday 30 August - West Ham United 4-1 Blackburn Rovers
West Ham United: Green, Behrami, Davenport, Upson, Neill, Faubert (McCartney 60), Parker, Noble (Mullins 81), Etherington, Cole, Ashton (Bellamy 69).
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Boa Morte, Reid, Sears.
Goals: Davenport 12, Samba 20 og, Cole 90, Bellamy 90
Saturday 30 August - Bolton Wanderers 0-0 West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion: Carson, Zuiverloon, Meite (Hoefkens 46), Barnett, Robinson, Borja Valero (Cech 58), Koren (MacDonald 70), Greening, Morrison, Kim, Miller
Subs not used: Kiely, Bednar, Brunt, Moore.
Team news
* In a strong squad, Keen welcomes back several players who have been away on international duty. Matthew Upson and Robert Green (England), Mark Noble (England Under-21s) Lucas Neill (Australia) and Valon Behrami (Switzerland) will all travel to the Midlands following their international call-ups.
* Behrami missed his country's shock midweek defeat by Luxembourg with a slight knock but was back in training on Friday.
* Craig Bellamy will be pushing for a starting place after his goalscoring cameo against Blackburn Rovers. The Welshman will be looking to make his first start since 27 October 2007.
* James Tomkins and Jack Collison both played in a midweek reserve-team friendly - a 4-0 win against Norwich City - after recovering from medial knee ligament problems. Tomkins is in contention, having come through training successfully this week, to provide extra competition for Matthew Upson and Calum Davenport. James Collins is also getting closer to his comeback but is not yet ready.
* The three new recruits of Italy striker David Di Michele, who will challenge Dean Ashton, Carlton Cole and Bellamy for a starting berth, and international left-backs Herita Ilunga and Walter Lopez are also part of the travelling squad.
* West Bromwich Albion defender Gianni Zuiverloon has a hamstring strain and is a doubt for the game.
* James Morrison and Abdoulaye Meite are available though after recovering from knee and calf injuries respectively. Ryan Donk and Jonas Olsson could be set for their debuts.
Background
* The last two meetings of the clubs came in the 2005/06 campaign. Teddy Sheringham struck the only goal in a November 2005 success at the Boleyn Ground before Reo-Coker's winner away the following May in the penultimate game of the season.
* The lineups for the last meeting on 1 May 2006 were:
West Bromwich Albion: Kuszczak, Albrechtsen, Watson, Davies, Robinson, Greening, Wallwork, Quashie, Gera, Ellington, Kanu
Subs not used: Hoult, Martinez, Carter, Nicholson, Inamoto
West Ham United: Hislop, Dailly (Konchesky 73), Gabbidon, Fletcher, Scaloni, Newton, Reo-Coker, Ward, Reid, Ashton (Sheringham 23), Zamora (Harewood 71)
Subs not used: Walker, Katan
Head to head (last six meetings, league unless stated)
1 May 2006 - West Bromwich Albion 0-1 West Ham United
5 November 2005 - West Ham United 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
6 December 2003 - West Bromwich Albion 1-1 West Ham United
8 November 2003 - West Ham United 3-4 West Bromwich Albion
23 February 2003 - West Bromwich Albion 1-2 West Ham United
11 September 2002 - West Ham United 0-1 West Bromwich Albion
Overall record v West Bromwich Albion (all competitions): W 35, D 16, L 36
Barclays Premier League fixtures (all 3pm unless stated)
Saturday 13 September
Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal
Fulham v Bolton Wanderers
Liverpool v Manchester United (12.45pm)
Manchester City v Chelsea (5.30pm)
Newcastle United v Hull City
Portsmouth v Middlesbrough
Wigan Athletic v Sunderland
Sunday 14 September 2008
Stoke City v Everton (1.30pm)
General information
For ticket information, click here. For details of getting to the Hawthorns, click here
Weather: The forecast is for a generally cloudy day with some sunny spells. The temperature is set to peak at around 19C.