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West Ham United have finally begun to learn their lesson about signing injured players, this is apparent by the club deciding that their approach to re-sign ex-keeper Darren Randolph from Middlesborough was only going to end in tears.

Lukasz Fabianski has a thigh injury, David Martin has a thigh injury, and guess what? Darren Randolph also has a thigh injury, so why risk signing him? It is common knowledge that Hammers recently appointed manager, David Moyes, would rather play Doris the tea lady in goal than call upon the services of supposed back up keeper Roberto Jiminez Gago!

Sheffield: Henderson, Basham, Egan, O’Connell, Baldock, Lundstram, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens, McGoldrick, McBurnie Subs: Eastwood, Sharp, Robinson, Jagielka, Mousset, Osborn, Besic
West Ham: Fabianski, Zabaleta, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Noble, Masuaku, Lanzini, Felipe Anderson, Haller Subs: Martin, Snodgrass, Fornals, Cardoso, Diop, Da Rosa, Ngakia

David Moyes has moved quickly to dispel the rumour that he wants to bring one of his favourites, Marouane Fellaini, to the London Stadium from Chinese club Shandong Luneng. The rumours themselves emanated from a piece of shoddy journalism which involved adding two and two together and making five!

Because Moyes signed Fellaini while he was the manager at Everton, and because Fellaini was his 'marquee' signing when he took over from fellow Scot, Alex Ferguson, at Manchester United an assumption has been made that Moyes will once again want to link up with his 'talisman'.

Although Panto season is officially over, there are always a few 'shows' that keep on running, and 'Hamstrung United' has been such a hit that it could continue on it's run for weeks, even months to come!

Normally the audience are drawn it to a situation where they are forced to shout out en masse "look behind you", as the wicked witch enters the stage. In the case of 'Hamstrung United', the wicked witch hasn't been replaced by Lady Brady, but has been usurped by the 'Elephant in the Room' known as the 'Hammer'.

Having battled through the difficult 3rd round FA Cup tie away to Gillingham, West Ham United have been rewarded with a home tie in the 4th round, against Slaven Billic's West Bromwich Albion!

Wouldn't you just know it, out of all the clubs remaining in the draw you could have bet your house that the Irons would be matched against some form of nemesis, possibly Millwall or Tottenham, if they manage to overcome Middlesbrough in the replay.

The managers of most Premier League clubs bemoaned the amount of games their team's have to play during the festive period, the combination of playing so many matches and having to travel to and from them in such a short space of time can really rack up injuries, especially if the team is involved in more than one competition.

Gillingham: Bonham, O'Keefe, Ehmer (c), Ogilvie, Hanlan, Fuller, Jones, Lee, Jakubiak, O'Connor, Tucker Subs: Walsh, Hodson, Willock, Ndjoli, Charles-Cook, Pringle, Marshall
West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Ogbonna (c), Masuaku, Snodgrass, Rice, Lanzini, Felipe Anderson, Haller Subs: Roberto, Zabaleta, Reid, Sanchez, Fornals, Holland, Ajeti

Living not far from Park Lane, it is easily within a person's remit to walk past all the Aston Martin, BMW and various other high end vehicle manufacturers, with Ferrari and McClaren being just down the road in Knightsbridge and once in a while pop in to the gleaming showrooms hoping that a rooky salesman might invite you for a test drive, when offered, most people generally accept.

A week can be a long time in politics, and two weeks a lifetime, but two weeks in football can be an eternity! Just ask the chaps at BT Sport, when as soon as the FA Cup 3rd round fixtures were announced, their programmers looked for the 'best' potential cup upset and decided, following 'Oxford Gate', that Gillingham's home tie against West Ham United meant that they could have a 'giant killing' on the cards, after all, it's what the FA Cup is all about isn't it?

West Ham:
Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Noble, Snodgrass, Fornals, Anderson, Haller.
Subs: Roberto, Zabaleta, Diop, Masuaku, Sanchez, Lanzini, Ajeti.

Bournemouth:
Ramsdale, Francis, Cook, Mepham, Rico, Cook, Lerma, Gosling, Callum Wilson, Solanke, Harry Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Simpson, Dobre, Billing, Fraser, Stanislas, Surman.