Hard times ahead for injury-hit hammers

By Simon Hayes on December 20, 2007 12:00 AM |

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IT'S BEEN a bad week for West Ham and it could get worse unless their injury crisis improves.
The Irons saw their dream of Wembley glory dashed when they lost 2-1 to Everton in the Carling Cup quarter final last Wednesday (December 12), and then the same opponents returned to Upton Park on Saturday (December 15) and grabbed all three points in a 2-0 win.
To add to the Hammers' woes, their injury problems increased when Carlton Cole limped off with a recurrence of a hip injury, reducing manager Alan Curbishley's striking options still further. With Dean Ashton looking anything but match-sharp, and Craig Bellamy a long-term casualty, it's a worrying state of affairs, as Curbishley acknowledged.

He said: "I can't ask for any more from the players with the way they are working but in the space of a week we've lost [Danny] Gabbidon, [Matty] Etherington, [Luis] Boa Morte and Cole.
"The most consistent sides outside the top four have probably been Villa, Portsmouth, Everton and you could name their team most weeks. Ours has become increasingly difficult because of our situation. I'm getting as much as I can out of them but perhaps where we need that little bit of quality either end of the pitch it's telling at the moment.
"We'll have to see what we've got left for next week but I can assure everybody we'll be going to Middlesbrough and we'll pick it up again."
The Christmas period sees Saturday's (December 22) trip to Middlesbrough followed by home games against Reading (December 26) and Manchester United (December 29) and a visit to Arsenal on New Year's Day.
Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg agreed it will be a crucial test of the club's ambitions to challenge for a European place next season.
"It's important to bounce back quickly," he said. "We have two good games coming up that we think we have a very good chance in."
Ljungberg has himself just returned from a spell on the sidelines after playing for Sweden last month and is looking forward to a prolonged run in the first team.
He said: "I've played two 90 minutes now and I'm feeling really good. Unfortunately after my two internationals I had migraines and I was ill for two or three weeks. I usually get them once a year and hopefully I've had it now and I'm done and dusted with it. It is always annoying and it takes about 10 days to clear. It is not the easiest thing to cope with.
"It has been frustrating with injuries and the migraines but I feel now that I am fit. I felt really good on Wednesday and today in the first half I felt really good. The second half was a bit more long ball so I don't get so much into the game when it is like that.
"Now I am just looking for some consistency and to do well for West Ham."
The Hammers have been given extra time to work on proposals for a new stadium next to West Ham Tube station. The club were initially given until the end of the year by the London Development Agency (LDA) to come up with a feasible design for a 60,000-capacity ground on the former Parcel Force site.
The LDA confirmed it has granted the unspecified amount of time, increasing speculation that a deal could be announced early in the new year.
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