West Ham United travel to League Two promotion contenders Newport County in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Plenty of supporters will be looking for the team to capitalise on their recent win against Watford and kick off their domestic cup campaign in style.
Newport, however, are the team familiar with causing an upset in cup competitions. Last season, they beat Middlesborough and Leicester City on the way to their fifth round game against Manchester City, which they eventually lost.
The season before, they took Tottenham Hotspur to a fourth round reply at White Hart Lane. West Ham have had a less savoury history in cup competitions.
Last year, they crashed out to AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup and were comfortably dealt with by Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley in the Carabao Cup.
Hammers fans are crying out for a decent cup run, so the pressure is on Pellegrini to show a strong hand in both competitions this season.
West Ham need to be on their toes to overcome these minnows, who have proven that they can not only give the bigger teams a game, but can win them.
Here’s where I think the key battles will take place.
