West Ham will travel to Blackburn on Sunday for a match in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.
The Hammers will be light on strikers, but not light on fans after the allotted 7,200 away-end tickets at Ewood Park were sold-out midweek.
It will be important for West Ham to not let their guard down against the Championship side after overcoming Liverpool in a fourth-round replay.
The Hammers have made a habit out of poor starts to games, as seen last week when they took until the 74th minute to score against Norwich and scrape out a point at Carrow Road.
Slaven Bilic told the BBC that he will put out the best side he can for the Fifth Round match, although it will be weakened by limited strikers fit and no right backs available to play.
We don’t need to rest players, we will play our strongest team because it is an important game and we want to win. The FA Cup should remain as the greatest cup competition, it is fantastic. We should do whatever necessary to keep it special.
West Ham will likely only have recent loanee Emmanuel Emenike fit for the match after Enner Valencia and Andy Carroll both picked up knocks in the 2-2 draw against Norwich City last weekend.
Starting early may be even more important against Blackburn since Emenike’s fitness has not yet been tested. The Nigerian striker came on in the 70th minute for West Ham last weekend against Norwich and in the 73rd minute against Southampton. Emenike nearly put away the winner late for West Ham at Norwich but was unable to get enough solid contact to guide it in.
Joey O’Brien and James Tomkins will miss the trip to Blackburn as well, and Sam Byram is cup-tied for the remainder of the competition so Michael Antonio appears likely to fill-in at the back. It won’t be the winger’s first time at right back for the Hammers. He filled in against Liverpool after Joey O’Brien went off injured.
Antonio’s pace certainly brings a lot to his game and allows for a fair amount of forgiveness in defense. His recovery speed saved him in a few instances against Liverpool, plus it brought a dangerous attacking overlap that is not seen from Tomkins or O’Brien frequently.
West Ham will see Manuel Lanzini return to the bench after more than a month injured. The attacking midfielder will have the chance to feature in his first match since early January. Lanzini has been missed in his time off, and will likely slot in for Victor Moses on the right wing when he’s fully fit.
The Hammers have an 11 game unbeaten streak against Blackburn but there is always a different environment in the FA Cup. Blackburn have struggled recently, finally securing their first league win in 10 attempts on Tuesday when they beat Fulham.
The last time the Hammers traveled to Blackburn in the FA Cup, it was a fifth-round replay in 1998, ending in a West Ham win on penalties.
With the injury concerns for the Hammers, West Ham will want to make quick work of the Rovers and advance into the quarter-final in early March.
