After seeing our Development Squad get turned over by Nottingham Forest on Sunday, it will be welcome sight to see a more familiar looking team at the Etihad Stadium tonight.
Allardyce admitted that he had rested almost the entire first-team for the 5-0 FA Cup third round loss firstly because of injuries, and secondly because he believed we have a chance of reaching Wembley.
That may be a little too ambitious given our current form and Manchester City‘s current form at home. They’ve have a 100% record at the Etihad this season and are averaging four goals a game. Ouch.
Nevertheless, we’re West Ham and we tend to do the impossible from time-to-time, so the team Allardyce fields tonight could well pull of the performances of their lives and snatch something. What? I can dream, can’t I?
We were given an idea of what side Allardyce could field tonight when talkSPORT’s Moose tweeted the squad that will travel up to Manchester…
[tweet https://twitter.com/BroadcastMoose/status/420512133130878976]No Stewart Downing, which is a big surprise, but Joe Cole can do a job there, while I wouldn’t put it past Allardyce to stick Mohamed Diame out wide again, despite it never working in the past.
So here’s my proposed starting XI for tonight’s Capital One Cup semi-final against Manchester City…
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Would you be happy with that starting XI? How would you approach this game? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.