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Manuel Pellegrini was a happy and to some extent a relieved man as he saw his West Ham team overcome a stalwart and obdurate AFC Wimbledon side in a tense 2nd round Elk Cup tie, the relief element being the fact that Hammers conceded Wimbledon's goal from a set play within the first ninety seconds of the game. Even after going down to ten men the Don's didn't make it easy for their Premier League opponents in any way shape or form, some of their physical nature would not have been tolerated within the safe confines of the 'upper echelon' but this was a full blooded cup tie.

AFC Wimbledon: King, Sibbick, Shilaja, McDonald, Garratt, Wagstaff, Trotter, Hartigan, Pinnock, Hanson, Pigott Subs: Purrington, Nightingale, Thomas, Appiah, Barcham, McDonnell, Wordsworth
West Ham United: Adrian (c), Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Obiang, Yarmolenko, Snodgrass, Perez, Chicharito Subs: Fabianski (GK), Balbuena, Masuaku, Cullen, Holland, Felipe Anderson, Antonio

Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini whilst desperately wanting a morale boosting win may well want to 'protect' certain players, namely one Felipe Anderson, during tonight's 'old fashioned' blood and thunder Elk Cup tie away to AFC Wimbledon.

Manuel Pellegrini is not taking the game against AFC Wimbledon lightly and has already stated he will field a 'full strength' side for Tuesday night's live on Sky broadcast, however that side will not include Marko Arnoutovic who Pellegrini has confirmed as having a 'slight' hamstring injury incurred during the match against Arsenal, the injury will rule the Hammer of the Year out of the Cup match but the club are hopeful of his return for the vital home game against Wolves this coming weekend.

How do you think Manel Pellegrini is going to set his team up for the tricky Carabou/Elk Cup fixture this Tuesday against Wimbledon ? The Sky TV cameras will be there so they obviously expect a bit of 'giant killing!'

Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Iwobi. Subs: Leno, Elneny, Lazazette, Torreira, Lichtsteiner, Holding, Welbeck.
West Ham: Fabianski, Balbuena, Fredericks, Masuaku, Anderson, Snodgrass, Sanchez, Wilshere, Diop, Antonio, Arnautovic. Subs: Adrian, Zabaleta, Obiang, Hernandez, Yarmolenko, Perez, Rice.
Could it be 4-1-1-3-1 for the Hammers?
Fabianski
Masuaku-Balbuena-Diop-Fredericks
Sanchez
Wilshere
Snodgrass-Anderson-Antonio,
Arnoutovic

West Ham travel the short distance across London to the Emirates Stadium to take on an Arsenal side that shares the dubious tag of being without points after two Premer League matches, both clubs have new managers and several new players to integrate in to their systems, West Ham more so than Arsenal.

Back in the day before we at the Org were banned from West Ham United press conferences, Journo's used to ask quite telling questions, if they were too much the manager would give a look that meant it was a no go area and the subject would generally be dropped.

Just months after informing him that his services were no longer required, West Ham United are considering a season's long deal for the out of contract James Collins. The 34 year old Welshman has been training with the main squad for the last few days prompting hopes that the ever popular defender might return to the club that he has spent 11 years with in total.

Following on from the 'Axeman cometh' headlines since Saturday's defeat against Bournemouth, it is now being claimed that Manuel Pellegrini is preparing to make as many as five or six changes as he attempts to make a clean sweep of what many have percieved to be his plan (A), are these the actions of a new manager already hitting the panic button or those of an experienced professional merely sorting the wheat from the chaff?