“Surely he’s learned” | West Ham fans plead ahead of Leeds decider

Finally, the end is in sight. Whatever the outcome, this Sunday showdown will bring down the curtain on an awful Premier League season which will be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

For West Ham fans, the endless peril of seemingly taking root in eighteenth position for as long as we can remember has overshadowed pretty much all else: Nuno’s January revival gave us relief but the stumble as the finish line neared was always possible in view of the fixture list challenges.

Few would have expected the Hammers to be in with a sniff of survival after losing so badly at St James’s Park. A week is a long time in football.

It seems Nuno will have to send out his West Ham side at home tomorrow with no ‘plan B’:

“Adama [Traore] it is going to he hard to join us. But the rest are okay, small knocks that we have to assess. But hopefully today everybody is going to  be okay”.

Traore ‘s continued absence with a quadriceps injury and the absence of other wing options means ‘tinker man’ Espírito Santo doesn’t have the option of pushing Bowen in as a second striker alongside Taty Castellanos, as many supporters had been advocating.

Only the unsuitable youngster on loan (what was the point of that?)  Keifer Lamadrid sits on the sidelines and so the Hammers will more than likely revert to the 4-4-2 set up with Callum Wilson a second half option for Nuno once Pablo tires.

Just as long as Wilson doesn’t start on his own up front: Even Nuno must have learned from the St James’ Park mistake of reverting to three at the back and inviting Newcastle to attack.

West Ham fans will be silently pleading that their Portuguese coach sees the error of his ways and reverts to the 4-4-2 formation that sparked the January mini-revival.

Any repeat of the Newcastle United tactical blunder tomorrow will surely allow Leeds United to profit in much the same way, with the inevitable outcome that we’ve been dreading for months.