Saturday, November 16

Martin deserves a chance and there's a case for recalling Diangana and Cullen

Looking at the fixtures the worrying thing is that there are eight league fixtures between now and New Year's Day when West Ham play Bournemouth and no guarantee that Fabianski will be fit by then. We really can't keep Roberto in goal for that long and David Martin surely can't be any worse, so let's give him a chance. Roberto's confidence is shot and teams will now put extra pressure on him if he plays.

Meanwhile there's a strong case for recalling Grady Diangana and Josh Cullen when the window opens. Yes, a season at WBA would be better for Diangana's long-term development, but we're desperate. He's had half a season of regular football and scored a few goals in the Championship already and will get games with West Ham now Lanzini is out and Fornals, Anderson and Yarmolenko are struggling. 

Similarly Josh Cullen is the sort of midfield workhorse we need, a player who has picked up experience at Charlton, wants to play for us and would be an option to replace Mark Noble in games. With only Sanchez in reserve we need cover in central midfield. Burnley beat us because they had triers like Bardsley and Westwood. We need more players who put in a shift.

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