Gianfranco Zola may have both Craig Bellamy and Carlton Cole at his disposal when West Ham United travel to Fulham although Dean Ashton faces a spell on the sidelines.
Both Bellamy and Cole trained on Friday and are in contention for the London derby, along with Calum Davenport who also missed out on the midweek match at Watford with a knock. With David Di Michele looking to build on his two assists and two goals in his first two Barclays Premier League outings, Robert Green, Scott Parker and Valon Behrami hoping to return and Herita Ilunga vying with Walter Lopez for the left-back berth, it promises to be an exciting contest. The manager is taking nothing for granted though.
"It is going to be a tough match," Zola said before adding that he expects his players to show a marked improvement on the 1-0 loss on Tuesday that ended the club's Carling Cup hopes for the season. He added: "Fulham are a good side. They are also playing good football. We know it is going to be tough. We don't like that we lost on Wednesday and we are going to try and bounce back straight away."
Zola will be without Ashton, who is set to be missing until the New Year as a result of his left ankle injury suffered earlier this month. As announced yesterday, the 24-year-old England international will undergo arthroscopic surgery early next week to assess the full extent of the problem. He will be on crutches for six weeks.