Soccer:West Ham's preparations for this weekend's match at against West Brom have been thrown into disarray by a number of injuries, including Robbie Keane who faces a six week lay-off with a calf injury.
The Republic of Ireland captain pulled his calf in Sunday’s defeat against fellow relegation rivals Birmingham and James Tomkins was ruled out with a similar injury in the warm-up.
Keane was immediately withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad that faced Wales in the Nations Cup on Tuesday. The Hammers will now be deprived of the player signed in the transfer window who they had hoped would be a talisman in the critical weeks ahead.
Matthew Upson is carrying an Achilles knock which leaves Grant with Winston Reid and Manuel Da Costa as his only two fit centre-halves.
One bit of good news for the Hammers is Thomas Hitzlsperger’s return to action for the reserves yesterday.
The Germany midfielder played an hour of West Ham’s 4-1 win at West Brom after missing the whole of the season so far with a thigh injury.
Hitzlsperger starred in the club’s successful pre-season campaign and could be in contention for a return to first-team action next week.
Grant said: “He was maybe our best player in the training camp before the season started. He gave us something that we needed this season — a lot of intelligence in the game and he is a hard worker.
“We didn’t lose one game at the training camp and he was responsible for about 50 per cent of the goals. I hope he will come back to the same form. It will take some time but I hope it will be soon.”
Manager Avram Grant is also convinced West Ham will become a much stronger club if they are chosen to move into the Olympic Stadium as expected.
The Hammers boss also took aim at rivals Tottenham for wanting to move east to Stratford from north London by saying: “We wouldn’t move to Chelsea.”
The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) will make a decision tomorrow whether West Ham or Tottenham should occupy the London 2012 showpiece once the Games are over.
The Hammers are expected to be chosen as the preferred bidder given that they are committed to honouring Britain’s pledge to host post-Olympics athletics meetings at the stadium.
An increasingly bitter war of words has broken out between the two bids this week, with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy warning that the stadium would become a white elephant if occupied by West Ham.
The Hammers deny those claims and have criticised Spurs for wanting to move over five miles from their north London home to an area synonymous with West Ham.
Grant echoed those sentiments today, saying: “There has been no definite decision yet, but I think if we are successful it will take the club forward. I think it’s in our area so the people in the area deserve it.
“I have said it before - I don’t think that we would want to build a stadium in Chelsea.”
While much of the media spotlight has been stadium-related this week, Grant has been focused on on-field matters.
The Israeli takes his side to West Brom looking to bounce back from last weekend’s damaging 1-0 home defeat to relegation rivals Birmingham.
The Baggies are reportedly close to appointing Chris Hughton as manager after sacking Roberto di Matteo on Sunday following a poor run of form that saw them plummet to 17th in the Barclays Premier League table.
The Italian was the fifth top-flight manager to lose his job this season. Grant, who himself is under pressure, has lashed out at the short-termism he feels is now prominent in the game.
“It isn’t the first and it won’t be the last. I don’t like it,” said Grant of Di Matteo’s sacking. “In the last year there have been more losses in the history of football because everyone is interested in the short term. It’s always the easiest solution. Sometimes the easiest solution is not the right solution.
“The best managers in the world are Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. If they would have started today I don’t know what would happen to them because everybody loses patience.”
