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No one exactly knows, has known or seems they will know what has occured between young Hammers star Reece Oxford and his manager Manuel Pellegrini, once tipped to be the brightest star to emerge from the 'famous' West Ham Academy, Reece has seen his career go backwards. The 6'3" just turned 20 year old can play as a centre half or in midfield, but his debut as a sixteen year old which saw him dominate the Arsenal players during a 2-0 away victory for the club seems an awful long time ago now.

On the back of an incredibly busy December and a very busy January, Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini will be forced to 'shuffle his pack' ahead of this Saturday's early FA Cup tie against Championship high flyers Birmingham City at the London Stadium. The need to rest his squad will have to be delicately balanced between the need to progress in what realistically is the only trophy available to the club, a good FA Cup run can revitalise a club and it's fanbase.

West Ham: Fabianski, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Diop, Cresswell, Snodgrass, Obiang, Rice, Anderson, Carroll, Arnautovic Subs: Adrian, Noble, Nasri, Masuaku, Perez, Antonio, Diangana
Brighton: Button, Duffy, Dunk, Montoya, Bernardo, Stephens, Gross, March, Propper, Murray, Locadia Subs: Steele, Bong, Kayal, Bissouma, Andone, Knockaert, Balogun