West Ham United head to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United on Friday night, but they will be missing four first-team players for the contest.
The Hammers will be hoping to pile on the pressure to those around them at the wrong end of the Premier League table, by getting a result before everyone else plays, but they could be stretched going into the game.
West Ham head up the M1 in decent nick, after beginning David Moyes’ second spell in charge with successive victories, against Bournemouth and then in the FA Cup clash with Gillingham.
However if the Hammers are going to complete a hat-trick of successes they are going to have to do so without Ryan Fredericks, Andriy Yarmolenko, Michail Antonio and Jack Wilshere, all of whom are injured, as their manager explained when he faced the press ahead of the game.
“It looks like Ryan Fredericks has got a hamstring injury, which is going to keep him out for somewhere between four and six weeks,” the West Ham official website quotes him as saying.
“I spoke to him this morning and he seems to think he feels quite good and he doesn’t think he will be as long as that. I hope he is right.
“Michail Antonio is still feeling his hamstring. He is not available for the game. We were hoping to have him back but he’s not quite ready yet. Jack Wilshere has been in the gym and he’s been working outside as well. He is working towards coming back, but I couldn’t give you an exact date at the moment.
“Andriy has gone for another injection in his thigh, so we’re waiting for him to come back so we can see how the injection has gone. We hope he’s not going to be too long.”
There is some solace for Moyes however, as he could have West Ham pair Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell available, despite them being doubts earlier in the week.
“They’ve both trained,” the Hammers boss said.
“Cressy was the one – he hasn’t really trained until yesterday, but he’s trained today.”