All the essential information ahead of Saturday's Emirates FA Cup meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers
The background
West Ham United’s Emirates FA Cup adventure for 2016 begins on Saturday with a third round visit of Sky Bet Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers.The Hammers take a break from Barclays Premier League action having risen back to sixth in the table with back-to-back wins either side of the New Year.
Southampton and Liverpool were both seen off at the Boleyn Ground and Slaven Bilic will be hoping to make it a hat-trick of home wins in his first FA Cup tie as boss.
Wolves sit eleventh in the Championship table, seven points shy of the play-off positions having taken 34 points from 25 games, but are on a good run of form.
Kenny Jackett’s men have won their last three outings, defeating Reading, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion without conceding a goal.
They are four-time FA Cup winners, last lifting the famous trophy in 1960.
The history
West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers have met twice before in the FA Cup.The first meeting was also the first time the clubs faced off in any competition, with the then-Southern League Hammers defeating their Football League opponents 5-1 in 1910.
The second cup tie was more recent – in 2004 – when goals from Brian Deane, Marlon Harewood and David Connolly gave the Hammers a 3-1 fourth round win at Molineux.
Overall, West Ham and Wolves have played each other 60 times, with the Hammers winning 28 times to the Midlanders’ 18
The match
Team news
West Ham United
Winston Reid returns to the West Ham United squad for the visit of Wolves, having recovered from a hamstring injury.Dimitri Payet could start after making his comeback from his ankle problem in last week’s victory over Liverpool, but Manuel Lanzini is out after limping off during the same game.
Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho (both hamstring) remain sidelined, although a return for Moses is not far away.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
For Wolves, winger Jordan Graham is a doubt after suffering an ankle knock and Michai Zyro may come in in his place.Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is in contention to start following injury, but Sheyi Ojo is unavailable after his parent club Liverpool cut short his loan at Molineux.
Match info
- Saturday’s referee is Manchester official Anthony Taylor. His assistants are Constantine Hatzidakis and Adam Hopkins. The fourth official is Kevin Johnson.
- West Ham enjoyed a fantastic start to their head-to-head meetings with Wolves, winning eleven and drawing three of the opening 14 fixtures before losing 5-0 at Molineux in a First Division match on 11 April 1960.
- Bobby Moore scored the only double of his career in a 4-2 First Division win over Wolves at the Boleyn Ground on 18 December 1961.
- Liam Brady scored on his final appearance in a West Ham shirt in a 4-0 Second Division victory over Wolves here on 5 May 1990 – the last game of the Republic of Ireland great’s illustrious career.
- Wolves’ most-recent visit to E13 was on New Year’s Day 2011, when West Ham ran out 2-0 Premier League winners courtesy of a Ronald Zubar own-goal and a strike from Academy graduate Freddie Sears.
Ticketing, travel, coverage and other news
- Tickets for Saturday’s game against Wolves have SOLD OUT.
- District and Hammersmith & City line trains will be serving Upton Park on Saturday, but please note that trains will not be running on the far eastern end of the District line, between Upminster and Barking. Replacement buses will operate. Click here for the latest news on TfL services and here for National Rail.
- A damp day is expected in east London on Saturday, with temperature at kick-off of 10C (50F).
- If you are not heading to the game on Saturday, make sure you keep up to date on all the action on our digital channels. The whufc.com match centre will have live audio commentary, text updates, in-running photos, stats and more, and you can get involved in the conversation on social using the hashtag #WHUWOL.