Graham Potter will be desperate to see a response from his West Ham United charges at home to London rivals Crystal Palace in Saturday’s 3pm Premier League kick-off, with Mads Hermansen out and Callum Wilson making his full debut.
Especially as the spectre of Nuno Espirito Santo hangs over the London Stadium.
Hammers News can confirm that vice-chair Karren Brady held talks with Nuno this week, the former Nottingham Forest manager emerging at the top of the West Ham United’s wishlist should they part ways with Graham Potter.
Potter has made one of the biggest decisions of his tenure, meanwhile, dropping Mads Hermansen and bringing veteran Alphonse Areola back into the starting XI.
Tottenham clearly targeted Hermansen on set-piece situations last week. Areola will hope to deal much better with crosses into the box today.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is out with a stomach issue, meanwhile, as Callum Wilson is chosen ahead of Niclas Fullkrug to make his first start for his new club.
Mads Hermansen dropped as West Ham United face Crystal Palace
Tomas Soucek is suspended after his red card against Tottenham. Fans may be disappointed to see Soungoutou Magassa start on the bench again, after the new signing from Monaco impressed in a half-hour cameo last time out.
“I think Aaron Wan-Bissaka will still be unavailable [due to] a problem with his stomach,” Potter says. “Hopefully, he will be [in] late training tomorrow or the weekend. But he won’t be available for the weekend’s game.
“Apart from that, Callum has had a full week’s training, so it’s good for him [and] Niclas Fullkrug. So, pretty much as we were.”
Dinos Mavropanos and Max Kilman keep their places alongside Kyle Walker-Peters and Malick Diouf, while Mateus Fernandes is chosen alongside the underperforming James Ward-Prowse.
Jarrod Bowen is likely to return to the right-hand side with Wilson also playing ahead of Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville.
“I think you have to do lots of things in this job,” Potter said during his Thursday press conference. “You have to build, develop, but you also have to win,” Potter adds. “It’s fair to say we haven’t done that as much as we would like, and then there is always pressure, negativity, criticism, all those things.
“But, at the end of the day, this is a fantastic job. It’s an important job at an amazing football club with an amazing support, a fanbase and an ambition.
“So, if you want to do something good, then it’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be hard. That’s just the nature of the job in the highest league in the world. If you think it’s going to be easy, then it clearly isn’t.
“But you have to do all those things; Build, develop and win.”
Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner has Adam Wharton back available, though the trip to East London comes too soon for in-form winger Ismaila Sarr.
Wharton starts while Daichi Kamada has also been passed fit.
“If you don’t win as much as you’d like, there is always noise and criticism,” Potter accepts. “That’s fair. That’s the world we’re in. Everyone wants West Ham to do well; the fans, the players, the board, my staff. We are all on the same page and we are all hurting the same.
“We have to try to – and we will – stick together. That’s part of this club as well. But at the same time, you have to hear when there’s criticism and feedback, and think about how you can improve.”
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