By Hughie Southon

Derby County may be without defender Eiran Cashin and central midfielder Louie Sibley for the clash with the Hammers on Monday evening and will be televised on tie be broadcast live in the UK by ITV4 and ITVX.

Both were missing from the games against Bolton Wanderers and Port Vale due to a tight hamstring and groin injury.

Defender James Chester continues to work his way back to fitness from a calf problem. The 34-year-old has not played since October.

With the match being played in a Football League Stadium VAR and goal line technology will not be in operation.

Each manager is allowed nine substitutes, of which five can be used at three occasions during open play, excluding half-time.

In the event that the scores are level after 90 minutes a replay will be held at London Stadium, provisionally scheduled for Tuesday 7 February 2023, with kick-off at 7.45pm.

The fifth-round draw will be made before our tie on Monday evening from 7pm, live on The One Show on BBC1 One. Fifth-round ties will be played in the week commencing Monday 27 February 2023.

By Gonzo

Transfer ‘In The Know’ Dharmesh Sheth of Sky Sports has reported that West Ham have rejected a bid from Newcastle for Harrison Ashby however, they are open to allowing him to leave.

Speaking from his Twitter account, Sheth wrote, “West Ham United have rejected a bid from Newcastle United for right-back Harrison Ashby. Bid went in earlier in the window. Negotiations ongoing. West Ham open to sale – Ashby out of contract in the summer”

Quite how much The Magpies have bid for the Hammers right back is not disclosed, but it appears a deal is close to being completed. For me personally, this is one of the more depressing stories to emanate from West Ham recently. Time will ultimately prove me right or wrong but he looks to be an incredibly talented player, with good athletic and technical ability.

Harrison Ashby

Ashby is the latest in a long line of players queuing to depart the club, but the fact that forward thinking Newcastle covet him should set alarm bells ringing. Every time I’ve seen the Scotish U21 international play for West Ham he’s performed superbly.

How he’s not managed to force his way into the team during the last two seasons is a mystery to me. I believe him to be the only natural right wing-back at the club, which is a problem position when Moyes deploys a back five.

I wish him well and don’t blame him for leaving at all. It’s a struggle to imagine a set of circumstances where he’d feature under Moyes, irrespective of Coufal or Kehrer’s form.

By Hughie Southon

Maxwel Cornet’s injury problems seem to still be a long way from any sort of resolution despite surgery.

Winger Cornet has not played since injuring his calf in the home Premier League win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 1 October, and  manager David Moyes has since revealed that the Ivorian has been undergoing specialist treatment in France.

There were suggestions from elsewhere that the winger may be close to a comeback but that certainly doesn’t appear to be the news from the man in charge of the squad.

Cornety has been in trouble since back last year and the way things are looking it could still be a considerable wait to see the former Burnley player back in the squad.

Along with Zouma and Scamacca and Ings it leaves the club in trouble with none of them of course available for Monday evening’s game at Derby County.

Discussing the Cornet problem with reporters Moyes said: ” He has been back in France seeing the specialist for probably three or four weeks now and we’re hoping to have him back here on Monday and we’ll see where he is .” 

“It would be great [if he is ready to return to full training], but I don’t know if he’s going to walk in the building, get his gear on and go out and train right away.

“I’m not sure, to be honest, but the fact of the matter is we’re hoping he’s going to be very close to that.

“But even then, I probably need a couple of weeks’ training before we’re even getting close, so that’s the problem with it.”

However it is believed they have cooled their interest having received ‘concrete assurances’ that the England midfielder will be joining Arsenal.

Quite how serious the Spanish giants were about acquiring Rice is uncertain, but it’s a slightly concerning report considering the origins of the story. The English media has been rife with the news that West Ham’s captain has chosen Arsenal,  but this particular report is clearly from a separate source.

The fact that media outlets close to continental clubs are now being briefed on Declan’s chosen destination, would indicate his mind has been made up.

As I mentioned previously, it’s crucial West Ham don’t accept The Gunners first offer. By declaring his intention, Rice has given arsenal an excellent negotiating position. It’s imperative we are not bullied into accepting less than his market value.

West Ham  target – Lyon’s Brazilian winger Tete – looks booked for a move to Leicester City until the end of the season.

The Hammers had not entirely given up hopes of attracting the player to the London Stadium but may have to wait until the summer window should they make a permanent move.

In the meantime the Foxes seem to have headed us – along with Brentford and Leeds in their tentative window moves.

The Hammers may well have switched their attention to a central defender as cover for Oggy, Aguerd and Zouma – and are now ready to wait for the summer window to kick in to make further advances on Tete.

The forward has been on loan at the Ligue 1 side from Shakhtar Donetsk since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with FIFA allowing foreign players to suspend their deals with clubs in the country.

FIFA’s ruling has complicated the move as it expires at the end of the season, meaning Brendan Rodgers will only be able to sign Tete until the summer initially giving the irons a chance of getting the player.

Leicester are reported to have reached an agreement  with Lyon over the termination of his loan.

By Hughie Southon

Claims that West Ham could be interested in signing Jose Mourinho as their new manager should the be forced to sack David Moyes have been dismissed by the club.

The Irons board remain entirely keen to see Moyes turn things around at the club as they face a tricky run of Premier League games.

Should he not then the club may be forced to move but have no significant targets in sight despite the former Chelsea head coach being named as a possible by the Daily Mail.

That is based on their report that “Jose Mourinho is eager to return to England next season amid frustration at a lack of financial backing from Roma.”

An extraordinary third spell at Chelsea would be his ideal scenario and his representatives have let it be known that he would be interested in any vacancy at Stamford Bridge.

It adds that the West Ham job could also be available but the hammers immediately ruled out such speculation when a key insider spoke to Claret and Hugh last night.

He explained: “Jose Mourinho is not a name that has ever been in our minds and in any event we are desperately keen for David Moyes to turn things around and the signs are a  better.”

By Hughie Southon

David Moyes is content to allow Michail Antonioto have his say on the future he sees in front of him.

The No 9 has talked up his situation at West Ham indicating that he may feel a move is a good thing for him with the club making it clear he is going nowhere right now.

And discussing that the manager told reporters: “Players are all entitled to having a voice, but it is not coming from the club or me. There is no problem with Mich, we have a great relationship.

“We just need to hope he finds the form he had a while back and get us the goals which can get us away. I have given him every opportunity to try and do that for us.

“I think it is because we are getting into the final four or five days of the window. Sometimes players can be played around and talked to by agents and things brought to their attention and those things can disrupt players,

But we all know that it is this month where it can happen to any player, not just Mich.”

On the front man’s lack of goals this season he added: “It has been a lack of form at times and things haven’t quite gone for him but obviously we want him to get back to that level – we’ve needed it.

“We wanted Gianluca to partner Micky Antonio, who when he was in form was scoring great, but the truth is that although Gianluca started quite well he dried up.

“We have been looking to find goalscorers. 

“We scored two at Leeds – one was a great shot from Gianluca from outside the box and the other a penalty kick – but I was thrilled by the two goals from Jarrod at the weekend – they were open play goals, which we had missed.

“That’s why we got Danny Ings in – we needed more goals from open play.”

David Moyes is continuing to decide on a loan market move for another central defender after losing Craig Dawson.

The central defender will be much missed after his move to Wolves and Moyes knows it particularly at the moment because he doesn’t know when he is likely to get Kurt Zouma back from another injury.

Explaining the situation to reporters the manager said: “Kurt has got a bit of an injury. I need to assess that and see where we are, and losing Dawson last week as well. it makes me see if I can get by with what I have got.

If not, I would maybe need to go to the loan market, but at the moment I don’t see that  happening just yet, but I don’t want to say ‘no’ completely.

It is a wee bit up in the air. I am disappointed to lose Craig. He did really well for us but I also think we did really well for him.”

He also addressed the issue of whether four entre backs was enough in the Premier League adding: “In old money it was always enough. You would have four with a young boy in the reserves you could bring in if you needed an extra one. 

Thilo Kehrer gives us a bit of cover as he can play CB or full-back. That helps us. We were unfortunate at the start of the season losing Aguerd for the best part of six months.

He is just back now and Kurt has been up and down with his knee and then picking up a bit of an injury. I am hoping he is not too bad. It is not easy working out do you or don’t you.

I have got to try and get that right.”

The Hammers have confirmed that 20 year old academy product Will Greenidge has completed a permanent transfer to Colchester United.

The defender has signed a two-and-a-half year contract at the JobServe Community Stadium with his preferred position being  right-back but he is equally happy in any of the defensive positions.

The young defender played under Colchester sporting director Dmitri Halajko during his time coaching in the Hammers’ academy.

He has played regularly for West Ham’s under-21 side this season, including in all three of their Papa Johns Trophy games.

The versatile defender progressed  through the Academy of Football’s age groups making . 18 appearances for the development side this season, scoring one goal, with 46 outings for the U21s since linking up with the side full-time in the 2020/21 season.

The club site reveals the 2019/20 recipient of the Dylan Tombides Award joins a Colchester side competing in EFL League Two, with a squad that boasts former Hammers Freddie Sears and Frank Nouble, as well as former West Ham U21s teammate Ossama Ashley.