WEST HAM UNITED v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
FA CUP FOURTH ROUND
SUNDAY 30 JANUARY 2011
KICK-OFF: 2PM
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• West Ham United welcome Nottingham Forest looking to make up for the disappointment of last Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final defeat at Birmingham City. This weekend's meeting has evoked memories of the 1991 FA Cup semi-final when Forest were 4-0 winners against the ten-man Hammers at Villa Park.
• Avram Grant guided Portsmouth to last year's final, aided by Paul Groves and David Coles. Frederic Piquionne was part of the Pompey team.
• The Hammers reached this stage by virtue of a 3-0 home win against Barnsley in the third round.
• Forest are fifth in the nPower Championship and pushing hard for promotion back to the top flight. The former European champions were relegated back in 1999/00 and fell into the third tier before returning to the Championship for the 2008/09 season.
• Billy Davies' side are flying and have won seven and drawn one of their last eight matches in all competitions, and only lost once in 13 games. They have won their last three matches on the road.
• Forest progressed to this stage with a 2-1 away win against Preston North End in the third round.
• New Hammers signing Gary O'Neil is cup-tied but Wayne Bridge and Demba Ba are both eligible. However, it remains to be seen if the latter will be match-fit enough to play after his arrival on Friday.
• Tickets are pay on the day. Click here for more information.
• This is the 112th meeting of the clubs, with both teams having won 43 fixtures.
• There have been four previous head to head clashes in the FA Cup, with the Hammers winning three of those ties. The only reverse was the most notable - the 4-0 defeat in the 1991 semi-finals.
Last time out
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Carling Cup semi-final second leg
Birmingham City 3-1 West Ham United aet (Birmingham win 4-3 on aggregate)
West Ham: Green, Upson, Spector ( McCarthy 89), Bridge, Faubert, Tomkins, Parker, Noble, Boa Morte (O'Neil 83), Cole, Hines (Dyer 71)
Subs not used: Boffin, Gabbidon, Reid, Sears
Goal: Cole
Tuesday 25 January 2011
nPower Championship
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bristol City
Nottm Forest: Camp, Morgan, Chambers, Lynch, Gunter, Cohen, McGugan, Moussi, Tyson (McCleary 66), Tudgay (Adebola 78), Earnshaw (McGoldrick 87)
Subs not used: Smith, McKenna, Moloney, Majewski
Goal: Chambers
Previous meeting
The last meetings between the clubs came in the Championship in 2004/05 - with both teams winning the home match.
The most recent of those games was a 3-2 home win at the Boleyn Ground on 26 December 2004. West Ham raced into a two-goal lead courtesy of Matthew Etherington and Teddy Sheringham. David Johnson scored twice in three minutes to level midway through the second half, only for Sheringham to score a dramatic late winner in the 89th minute.
West Ham: Bywater, Repka, Ferdinand (Mullins 71), Mackay, Powell, Chadwick (Williams 77), Lomas, Reo-Coker, Etherington, Sheringham, Harewood
Subs not used: Burch, Rebrov, Zamora
Nottm Forest: Gerrard, Morgan, Rogers, Dawson, Impey (Commons 62), Thompson (Westcarr 84), Bopp, Robertson, Derry, Johnson, Harris
Subs not used: Doyle, Doig, Perch
Background
• West Ham last played at Wembley 30 years ago in the 1981 League Cup final. They were eleven minutes from a return last Wednesday before Birmingham levelled the Carling Cup semi-final and went on to win 4-3 on aggregate after extra time.
• West Ham have won the FA Cup three times in their history - in 1964, 1975 and 1980 and finished as runners-up twice - in 1923 and 2006.
• Beaten finalists by Liverpool on penalties in 2006 in Cardiff, the Hammers have not lost to a lower league team since a defeat by Tranmere Rovers in the 1999/00 FA Cup third round.
• The 2006 runners-up are chasing a place in the last 16 for the second time since losing on penalties to Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium five years ago.
• The FA Cup was the only major trophy to elude former Forest manager Brian Clough. The club have lifted the famous trophy twice - in 1898 and 1959. They were losing finalists to Tottenham Hotspur in 1991, after beating the Hammers in the semi-finals.
• The last time Forest reached the fifth round was in 2005.
Team news
• Thomas Hitzlsperger and Manuel da Costa have returned to training after overcoming thigh and ankle injuries respectively. Jack Collison (knee) is also doing well but is a bit further behind on the comeback trail. Goalkeeper Peter Kurucz (knee) is not expected to play at all this season.
• Junior Stanislas is still recovering from surgery on an abdominal hernia a fortnight ago.
• All other members of the squad are fit and training. Victor Obinna and Frederic Piquionne are both back after suspension.
• Forest are focusing on their league promotion push and may rotate. Among those who could be involved are Paul McKenna, David McGoldrick, Kelvin Wilson, Radoslaw Majewski and Dele Adebola.
• It remains to be seen if former Hammers Academy product Chris Cohen will feature against his former club as the left-footed midfielder is crucial to their promotion hopes.
Referee
• Saturday's referee is Michael Oliver, who took charge of the 2-2 draw at Birmingham City on 6 November 2010 in the Barclays Premier League.
• He has not refereed a West Ham cup fixture since the 3-0 win against Barnsley in the FA Cup third round on 3 January 2009. Herita Ilunga, Mark Noble and Carlton Cole were all on target.
• Oliver's only Forest match this season was their 1-0 defeat at Leicester City on 29 November 2010 - coincidentally the last time they were beaten.
Old boys
• Chris Cohen has shone for Forest in their promotion push. He made 20 appearances for the Hammers after progressing through the youth ranks alongside Mark Noble. He moved on to Yeovil for the 2005/06 season before signing for Forest in summer 2007. He has already made more than 150 appearances for the Tricky Trees.
• Among the players who have represented both clubs are Jim Barrett, Horace Biggin, Franz Carr, Gary Charles, Charlie Craig, Colin Foster, Marlon Harewood, Andy Melville, Ian Moore, Adam Nowland, Stuart Pearce, Teddy Sheringham, Fred Wallbanks.
General information
• For ticket information, click here. For details on getting to the Boleyn Ground, click here. The Hammers are next in action on Wednesday when they travel to Blackpool for a vital Barclays Premier League encounter.
Weather
• The forecast is for a chilly afternoon in east London, with temperatures peaking at round the 7C mark.
Travel information
• Fans should note there are no District line trains running this Sunday between Earl's Court and Dagenham East, meaning Upton Park will be closed. There is no service at all on the Hammersmith and City line. Replacement bus services are in operation. The Central line and Jubilee line - which both call at Stratford - are both operating normally. Click here for more information. For information on planned engineering works on the C2C rail service, click here.