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No, this is not an article relating to West Ham United's unbelievable injury list, a list that keeps on growing! Instead it is about the price of being a football 'mascot', it may seem naive now, but back in the day 'mascots' either wore silly costumes and took part in dodgy penalty shoot outs, or, were selected because they had been ill or because they were randomly selected from the club's 'youth' membership. The BBC, despite employing Mark Lawrenson, usually research things properly, it is to them that we must credit the following information.

Having already worked with Samir Nasri it really was a no brainer for Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini to sanction a short term loan deal for Samir Nasri, once the Frenchman had proved his fitness following a long suspension for inadvertently having broken FIFA doping laws. Here is what Pellegrini said “I am very pleased to welcome Samir to West Ham United, he is a player I obviously know well from our time together at Manchester City and I am happy to be working with him again.

Having survived on a wing and a prayer through most of the Christmas period, Hammers finally played the 'Game too far' against a resolute and determined Burnley side. Despite the return of Marko Arnoutovic, Hammers were without essentially nine men, and that imbalance finally came home to roost. Unfortunately there are only a few days to go before the next demand on the wafer thin squad.