Battle scarred campaigner James Hanson has warned the Hammers under performing defenders they will be in for a bruising battle at his hands tonight (Tues).
When it comes to physical battles, the 30 year old AFC Wimledon striker has been there a hundred times before and won’t be holding back at Kingsmeadow in the EFL Cup clash .
Talking to the London Evening Standard he said: “I always look forward to the physical battle. I have had stitches, broken noses, but you give them out as well.
“That is one of my strengths, being as physical as I can be. West Ham have a lot of foreign players who have not played in this type of game before and we want to make them as uncomfortable as we can. Hopefully, we can get some service and cause them problems at the back.”
Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena were West Ham’s centre-backs for the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday and Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini may decide to leave them together on a getting to know each other learning curve.
Hanson was partof the Bradford City team that reached the reached the League Cup Final in 2013 and added: “Premier League defenders are not as physical as in the lower leagues. We got a lot of joy at Bradford with the way (manager) Phil Parkinson played.
“It was quite direct and a lot of things went through me. The Premier League teams did not match us physically. You have got to have a game plan, stick to it and be patient.”