Who Will Play Left Back On Thursday? Byram Or Obiang?

Confirmation that Aaron Cresswell's injury is far greater than we had initially thought (hence the removal of our previous article), is the sort of news that all West Ham fans feared but thought would never happen, Cresswell has been such an ever present in the starting line up that it seems almost inconceivable to see West Ham without him. Ironically full back Carl Jenkinson while on loan from Arsenal sustained an even worse injury early last season, Cresswell has knee ligament damage and is scheduled to be unavailable for four months, anyone who has had ligament damage will see that target as relatively optimistic! The club will obviously be scouring the market for a replacement, with one left back out on loan and already injured, and the other having been released from the books, the immediate focus will be who plays left of defence for this thursday evening's Europa Cup tie? The obvious choice is to play Sam Byram, although right footed he should be able to put in a shift, the other option might be to use Pedro Obiang. The player himself has been unhappy at his lack of game time, so perhaps slotting him in to the left back position can fill the space, albeit temporarily and it would also keep a discontented player happy, it's a win win short term solution to a bad situation. - Ed