West Ham will have been heartened by the words of warning from Sunderland boss Gus Poyet and his his skipper  John O’Shea ahead of the game at the stadium of Light.

Writing in his programme notes Poyet said: “West Ham are fourth and we are not talking about just two or three games, we have played 15 so they are so high because of what they have been doing and they deserve to be where they are.”

And O’Shea added: “West Ham will be full of confidence coming into the match after three straight wins.

“Not only have they had a good run of late, they have produced the results on the road all season too.

“They will be coming here with a game plan to attack and get the goals to keep their form going.”