Premier League preview: West Ham United v Norwich City

30 December 2012 13:08

West Ham United will be desperate to end their winless run when they play host to Norwich City in the English Premier League on Tuesday.

Sam Allardyce's men have taken just one point from their past four matches and were left to rue a 1-0 loss at Reading on Saturday in which they all but gifted three points to the lowly hosts.

Pavel Pogrebnyak scored the only goal of the match after five minutes when he capitalised on a horrible back-pass by James Collins and found the net with a composed finish.

Ricardo Vaz Te then had the chance to level proceedings for West Ham in the dying stages but instead inexplicably headed his effort wide of the target when it looked easier to score.

Adding to their woes, West Ham, already missing the injured Andy Carroll, Mohamed Diame and Yossi Benayoun, will be also without Collins and captain Kevin Nolan at Upton Park on New Year's Day after the pair was suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards.

"It's tough going for us at the minute so we have dig in, become a bit more resilient and show a bit more quality in the final third and make sure we try to win and get three points as quickly as possible," Allardyce told the West Ham website.

Norwich, one place above West Ham in 11th on the table, could welcome back Grant Holt for the journey to London after the skipper missed Saturday's thrilling 4-3 loss at home to champions Manchester City through injury.

"The games are coming thick and fast and rest and recovery is almost as important as the training they've been doing for the lads that are playing," manager Chris Hughton told the Norwich website.

"Holt will be touch and go for West Ham though, and we'll have to assess him over the next couple of games."