Hammers ready for Young Boys

West Ham United will kick-off their pre-season schedule when they face leading Swiss Super League outfit BSC Young Boys on Monday evening.

Sam Allardyce will lead his side for the first time at the Uhren Cup competition in the town of Grenchen in central Switzerland, with kick-off at 6pm local time (5pm UK time).

The manager and his staff and players have spent the past three days training in the Alpine nation, working hard on their fitness ahead of the 2011/12 npower Championship season opener against Cardiff City on Sunday 7 August.

This evening, the Hammers will have to be at their best to overcome a team that finished third in their domestic league last season and are in the final stages of their own pre-season campaign.

Young Boys, who took on Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round last season, are just six days away from their Super League opener against champions FC Basel on Saturday.

The vast majority of West Ham's 26-man squad could take part in the game, although the late-returning internationals - including Robert Green, Scott Parker, Jack Collison and James Tomkins - may miss out as they continue to work their way towards full fitness.

With a number of senior players expected to be absent, the likes of young Academy graduates Olly Lee and Cristian Montano and rookie professionals George Moncur and Robert Hall could be given chances to impress Allardyce and assistant Neil McDonald.

Meanwhile, the meeting with Young Boys could see new signings Kevin Nolan and Abdoulaye Faye make their first appearances in a claret and blue shirt.

As for West Ham's opponents, Young Boys themselves finished third in the Super Liga last term behind champions Basel and FC Zurich.

The Bern-based club boasts a cosmopolitan squad that includes Switzerland international defender Christoph Spycher, Sweden midfielder Alexander Farnerud and exciting Cameroon attacker Henri Bienvenu.

West Ham's official website whufc.com, West Ham TV and the club's official twitter feed will have live text updates from the big match from 5.30pm local time (4.30pm UK time).

Following Monday's fixture, the Hammers will return to Grenchen again on Wednesday evening for an Uhren Cup meeting with Super Liga champions Basel, with kick-off at 7.30pm local time (6.30pm UK time).

Again, the official website will be on hand to bring you all the latest news.

*An in-depth look at West Ham's opening two days in Switzerland can be found here - Day One - and here - Day Two.