"If you look at the teams in the division they probably have the best depth in the squad and probably have cover in every position," he says.
"They have not relied much on loans at all because they have got everyone; they kept those that were there when they went up because they didn't overstretch the budget and naturally they got revenue in the Premiership which they hadn't so they got in three or four players to supplement it during the summer.
"It remains to be seen who will play but I am sure Hulse will as he is scoring goals and it is a case of trying to to get our noses in front because when they get ahead they defend quite well in those situations and it can be very frustrating.
"So from a spectacle point of view it would be nice if West Ham got ahead and stayed there.
"It will be a difficult game but hopefully with Brian Deane making his home debut it will give us a bit more physical presence and the likes of Michael and Hutch being back is good.
"But we need that little bit of cutting edge that without David Connolly you can miss.
"I think when you play somebody else up there particularly at home it is important to get the three points and we haven't done particularly well at home; we drew with Sheffield United, Norwich, and Forest and the one win would put you in that little cluster again.
"They are a difficult side to play against because they get a lot of people goal side and their away form is slightly better than their home because they invite you to attack and pinch a goal - a little bit like they did against us in the Premiership last year which wasn't the best of games.
"They got the goal, hung on to it, and won 1-0; we missed a few chances in the first half and went away with all three points.
"It is an area that everyone is aware of, they play three wing backs and Koumas is a good player but it is more about us trying to play to our strengths."