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West Ham: 13 Adrian 22 Sam Byram 21 Angelo Ogbonna 19 James Collins 3 Aaron Cresswell 8 Cheikhou Kouyate 16 Mark Noble (c) 28 Manuel Lanzini 30 Michail Antonio 29 Emmanuel Emenike 27 Dimitri Payet Subs1 Darren Randolph 4 Alex Song 9 Andy Carroll 14 Pedro Obiang 20 Victor Moses 25 Doneil Henry 35 Reece Oxford

Ahead of this lunch time's Barclays Premier League fixture against relegation threatened Sunderland, West Ham manager Slaven Billic has a couple of pleasant selection head aches. Primarily who does he play at right back, Sam Byram who is now available having been cup tied, or retain Mikael Antonio who performed so well against Blackburn in the 5-1 FA Cup victory? Billic also has to decide whether to give Emmanuel Emenike his first EPL start, or start the incredibly fragile Andy Carroll, as Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho are both unavailable through injury.

To read some of the comments trawled out about Sam Allardyce by his sycophantic pals in the media ahead of his Sunderland team's visit to the Boleyn Ground for this Saturday's early 12;45 kick off, one could be forgiven if one thought that Big Sam was a saviour who rode in and rescued a "club that was on it's knees" single handedly! There is no mention of the massive salary he received or the fact that he was backed financially by the board on numerous occasions for several dubious purchases.