Carlton Cole may be set to celebrate his THIRD Hammers coming by being named line leader when the team step out for the weekend game against Newcastle.
Manager Sam Allardyce is pinning his hopes on the big man early on, before bring on Andy Carroll for an hour later in the game.
We are told that Sam finally made his mind up about giving Cole an 18 month deal after growing tired of his striker hunt and seeing CC return to something around his best.
Lacina Traore will be ready for action in around three weeks but the club were playing down rumours of a ligament injury this evening.
We were told that he needed to get up to full fitness after becoming involved in the Russian league’s winter break.
A source said: “There’s nothing wrong we know of but that.”
