Nathan Holland and Joe Powell  will come under close examination this evening with first team places possibly up for grabs a week against Spurs on Saturday.

Holland is being freely discussed as needing to be brought into the first team squad given his recent amazing form at under 23 level.

But tonight he and Scully with 21 goals between them this season will be looking for a win at Exeter City which would see them progress into the next stage of the Leasing.com Trophy.

The Hammers have one win behind them but were beaten in a nail biter at Cheltenham Town and now need a win to be sure of pressing on in the trophy.

This will be the final game available to the manager in deciding whether any of the three – and notably Holland of course – will be involved in the Spurs squad as the under 23s next clash is with Aston Villa on the eve of the game on the 23rd.

A top game and hopefully a win could see the winger with a big chance of squad inclusion for the London derby.

The Hammers kick off against the Grecians at St James’ Park at 7pm

The Irons are this afternoon reported to be eyeing a move for Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic, with the player thought to be wanting a January transfer window move.

The  31 year old has only managed five appearances for this season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer preferring the likes of Scott McTominay and Fred in the middle of the park.

Beyond that Matic has missed the last seven matches with injury although is now understood to be close to fitness.

However, Matic is concerned a lack of game time at United could hinder his chances at Euro 2020 with Serbia and an early exit is possible ahead of the expiration of his contract next summer.

It’s one of those reports from which on the face of it sounds realistic but whether the Irons are ready to add £120k a week to the wage bill at a time when we have the likes of Jack Wilshere (£100k) and Pablo Fornals (appx 70k) on the books is probably doubtful.

And at 31 the Serbian is heading out of the age range required in an area of the pitch where pace and energy is  a big requirement right now.

The 48-time Serbia international has clocked up 92 appearances for Manchester United since his £40million move to Old Trafford from Chelsea.

Matic is keen to leave United in the summer, with Paul Pogba and Andreas Pereira also preferred to the ex-Chelsea star. Matic is fond of living in London, after two separate spells with Chelsea and he may be keen on a move to West Ham.

However, a switch seems unlikely with Pellegrini facing cash restraints after a series of seemingly poor buys and the board wanting to see performances from the like of £25 million Pablo Fornals.

West Ham could learn something from former Hammer Frank Lampard junior. A photo of Frank’s non-nonsense player fine system has gone viral on social media this week.

Despite Lampard being in charge of Chelsea for his first season, he has implemented a hard-hitting fine table that hits first-team players hard in their pockets.

The fines include £2,500 for reporting in late for training and a further £2,500 for every further 15 minutes they are late for reporting for training at their Surrey base.

Miss the start of training itself and it will cost you a cool £20,000!   Lateness for any team meeting is charged at £500 per minute so oversleep for an hour it will cost you £30,000.

Failure to report an illness or injury 90 minutes before the start of training or a day off will cost players a fine of £10.000.

It would be interesting to compare the Chelsea fine system to West Ham’s own internal fines system but from previous leaks it doesn’t come close to this regime

A supporters group called Hammers United has threatened to stage fresh protests if the club does not enter into dialogue with them.

The group founded by Paul Colbourne who received a life ban for planting a flag on the middle of the pitch at the London Stadium during the Burnley game last year claims his group members are pressuring him to protest.

In recent weeks Hammers United has written to the Premier League, UEFA and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport demanding access to independent supporters’ groups.

They claim to have the full support of the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and two M.Ps who have also promised support.

Writing to members by email earlier this week Colbourne claimed the group are mandated by members to pursue three flagship policies of London Stadium stewarding, the distance of the seats from the London Stadium pitch and further spending on transfers.

The group continue to lobby the club and others for direct dialogue with the club outside of the Official Supporters’ Board (OSB)

Colbourne wrote:“I believe that the fanbase has one last fight in it, one last chance to take our club back. If it comes to action we will need 20,000.No messing about, no failure.-So if it comes to that we must be ready, failure is not an option. And the time is not yet right.though depending on the club’s reaction it may be fast approaching!”

Friends of a West Ham season ticket holder are trying to get Hammers supporters to join in with 33rd-minute applause for Lily Harris during the next home game at the London Stadium against Spurs. 

The 33-year-old young lady who had a season ticket for twenty years suffered from Cystic Fibrosis and had a double lung transfer at the end of October after a long battle with her illness but she sadly passed away on the 5th November.

Although the club officially only carry out memorials to lost West Ham loves twice per season they will often be ready with a photo in case there is spontaneous supporter led applause during a home game.

Supporters online have been campaigning to remember Lily who was active on social media by joining with a minute’s applause on the 33rd minutes of the London derby.

Claret and Hugh send their condolences to the friends and family of Lily Harris at this sad time.

The good news is the barometer hasn’t fallen any lower as we lost to Burnley last season as well.

The West Ham barometer produced exclusively for Claret and Hugh by Andy Dennis shows us stranded on minus nine points.

This is a like for like comparison on last season against the same fixtures with relegated teams matched with corresponding promoted teams.

With losses against Spurs at home, Chelsea away and Wolves away last season it guaranteed not to fall lower than the current minus nine for the next three games but with no win in six games in the league it difficult to see where the next result will come from.

Our fall to 16th place in the Premier League table demonstrates the doldrums we have experienced since the early positive results when we were plus two points on the barometer after drawing with Bournemouth. It has been one-way traffic since then.

Grady Diangana has made it crystal clear he is more than happy at West Brom learning his trade and gaining confidence under former Hammers boss Slaven Bilic.

Yes, there;s a degree of uncertainty over his immediate future and with the Hammers suffering a couple of injuries there’s a discussion going on as to whether he may be needed back at the London Stadium.

However, with the Hammers manager believing he is better off where he is – assuming there’s no real emergency over his own team plans – it seems probable he will see his time out at The Hawthorns.

The Irons can trigger his release clause at anytime between January 1-14 but the player would seemingly really prefer to see himself in the west midlands until next May and hopefully with a Championship medal

In an interview published towards the end of last month he expressed his delight at being part of an exciting Albion team which currently heads the Championship.

He said: “I’m really enjoying my time at West Bromwich Albion. Playing every week is amazing for me and it’s helping me gain a lot of confidence. I feel very comfortable at the Club and everyone has been treating me really well.

“To be a big part of the team shows that Slaven Bilić has trust and confidence in me and that makes me feel special. It’s really nice to be a part of the team.

“We expected to be good this season. We play good football, we defend well and we attack well. We’re a very good team so we’ve always had high hopes and high standards for ourselves.

“There are a lot of different types of players but we are all gelling well. The chemistry is good and the feeling in the dressing room is really good. Everything is going well.

“I’m enjoying every moment and I just want to keep improving and keep getting better and better.”