A funny few weeks in the world of the Hammers, following the Ipswich debacle, with sparkling away form but the home match blues still haunt the Hammers, culminating in Wednesday's poor show against the Hornets. I still believe it's mostly psychological with the lads, the burden of expectation weighing heavily on their shoulders. Away from home and the belief we should be 3-0 up in ten minutes, the players are enjoying it, but now the closeness of Upton Park to the pitch which was once such an important part of it being a fortress is part of our undoing.
If we're going to turn things around, there will be no better chance than against bottom three club Doncaster. Fresh from their 2-1 win over Forest, they will have some confidence, though obviously Mr Piquoinne will not be able to face us, quite lucky really as you'd back on him to score. Previous to this showing however, Rovers have been pretty poor away from home and the Hammers really should have the better of them.
The team selection will be a bit of a moot point, with so many options up front, it's hard to know what is best right now. But I'll try…
Green
Macca – Tomkins – Faye – O'Brien
Taylor – Noble – Nolan – Faubert
Cole – Baldock
Bench: Boffin, Vaz Te, O'Neill, Maynard and Lansbury.
It has to be 442 with the flanks exploited and Cole and Baldock giving their defenders something to think about. We need to get behind the boys from the off and keep patience with them and let's hope we can lift the Upton Park hoodoo. Come on you Irons!