Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has ruled four players from the squad which travels to the London Stadium tomorrow!
But after training for the last couple of day Andy Carroll is not among them and will be relishing the chance to help put it across his former team-mates given the chance.
Bruce could even play a psychological card by throwing him on from the start as the striker bids to make a point or two.
Meanwhile, at his pre-match presser this morning Bruce gave an update on his squad and with Sean Longstaff sent off in the last match will of course be missing.
He also ruled out defender Florian Lejeune after he has played only 45 minutes of reserve team football in seven months.
Fabian Schar is also ruled out along with Matt Ritchie but Bruce said: “Andy Carroll has trained the last couple of days, so he will come back into the squad.
The news from Tyneside again suggests that the Geordies will be arriving thinking very much in terms of defence against a Hammers team desperate to break back into free scoring form.
They already hold a pre-season result over us from the Chinese tournament but we did the double over them last season and we have a great opportunity in front of us to get a result.
Carroll’s presence obviously poses a threat given his Hammers history but often in these circumstances players are TOO keen to impress which can have a derogatory effect on their performance.
