West Ham's Competition for Places

Alan Curbishley, on the official site, has reiterated that West Ham are not determined to bring in new players in January.

"I have decided that unless something really critical happens, we won't be doing too much. The players that have been playing have been done fantastically well and the players that are coming back are desperate to get back."

"Hopefully they will all get themselves fit and I won't have any sleepless nights at all regarding the injuries - but team selection may be a little bit difficult. That would be a nice thing."

Curbishley seems to think that the competition for places might also have a positive effect on the players and that it will help stop the kind of mistakes that led to Fulham's goal on Saturday,

"Ferdinand should have been marking, he should have been the other side of him. He has redeemed himself with the goal and his second-half performance. As James Collins said to him: 'I'm just waiting, I'm just waiting'. That's nice, that's what we have got at the moment. We have got one or two people putting pressure on."