Five West Ham fringe players who deserve an FA Cup start

The next fixture sees us host mid-table Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round.

Bilic has already confirmed that he will play to win and Wolves are not to be underestimated with dangerous players such as Jordan Graham and Benik Afobe in their side.

However, this is a great chance to have a look at some of the players that are not usually including in our starting line-ups.

Here I evaluate five players that could be given a chance to impress the gaffer in this weekend’s game…

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Stephen Hendrie

When Stephen Hendrie made the switch from Hamilton to West Ham, he must have known he’d be deputising for reigning Hammer of the Year Aaron Cresswell.

But with the amount of football Cresswell plays maybe a rest is needed. Hendrie is held in high regard by followers of Scottish football and this could be the perfect opportunity for us to test out his talents for the first time in a competitive environment.

Wolves have two good wingers in James Henry and Jordan Graham so this would be an interesting challenge for the young Scotsman.
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Reece Oxford

The media went crazy following the then 16-year-old Reece Oxford’s dominating display in his Premier League debut away at Arsenal this year.

But with Cheikhou Kouyate, Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang and Alex Song all available, Oxford’s game time has significantly decreased.

There is no doubting the 17-year-old’s immense talent though and he would be very comfortable if we call upon him to play against Wolves.
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Doneil Henry

After a really impressive loan spell at Blackburn Rovers last season, Henry failed to make the same impression in his stint this year.

With Reid still recovering from an injury and regular starters Collins, Tomkins and Ogbonna potentially needing a rest maybe this is Henry’s chance to show us how good he really is.

He has experience against Championship sides already so he should not be fazed by the occasion.
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Nikica Jelavic

Jelavic has been poor since his deadline day move from Hull.

He has failed to find the net in nine appearances and has now dropped down the pecking order following Valencia and Carroll returning from injury.

But he has Premier League and Championship experience and could prove to be a useful squad player with more confidence.

This might be a good game to start him and see if he can produce a good performance. If not then we might have to offload him.
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Elliot Lee

Elliot Lee was recently accused of wanting to be at home with “mummy and daddy” by Blackpool boss Neil MacDonald. Blackpool were willing to extend the 21-year-old striker’s loan deal until the end of the season but McDonald thinks he’s gone back to the comforts of U21 football.

There is a time where you have to grow out of that though and this FA Cup fixture could be the perfect bridge to first team football that Lee needs.

It’s worth giving him a shot to see what he’s got.
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