Blues Host West Ham in Only Home Friendly
Tuesday, 25th Aug 2020 09:23

Town face West Ham United in their only home friendly of pre-season at Portman Road this afternoon (KO 2pm).

“Brilliant, a really good game, a really tough game,” manager Paul Lambert said looking ahead to the match following Saturday’s friendly at Spurs.

“The big thing about Premier League players is the physicality of them, the speed of them, the speed of the ball, it moves really, really quickly.

“But what a great game, David [Moyes] will come down and a couple of guys I know there who it will be nice to see again. We’re looking forward to it, it’s a really good game.”

Lambert says his starting XI for the beginning of the season proper will become clearer after the match.

“After the West Ham one, we’ll start to realise what’s going to happen,” he added. “But I’m really happy with the guys considering they had five months of not playing.”

That suggests it will be another mix and match side against the Hammers with the starters perhaps getting 60 minutes after two different XIs were fielded in each half at Tottenham.

James Norwood, who has been continuing his rehabilitation programme following his groin operation in February, and James Wilson (calf) were due to train yesterday and may play some part. Emyr Huws travelled to Tottenham but wasn’t involved, however, the Welshman may be back against the East Londoners.

Oli Hawkins seems less likely to be involved as he’s a little way behind on his pre-season preparations having been training on his own before joining the Blues a week ago.

West Ham are splitting their squad in half as they have another friendly at Wycombe Wanderers this afternoon.

Therefore, ex-Blues left-back Aaron Cresswell and former loanee Mark Noble could miss out on a return to Portman Road.

Town striker Freddie Sears will be up against his old club, while Norwood, Flynn Downes and kitman James Pullen are all West Ham supporters.

With the game behind closed doors, the Blues have arranged streamed five-camera coverage with BBC Radio Suffolk’s Brenner Woolley commentating.

The broadcast, which starts at 1.50pm ahead of the 2pm start, is available here for £10.

The live stream is not available in Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia, Brazil, Israel, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Honduras as the match is being shown live on TV in those countries.

Town have one more friendly on Saturday against lower league opposition before the season proper gets under way with the Carabao Cup tie against Bristol Rovers at Portman Road in Saturday 5th September.

Photo: Matchday Images

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Northstandveteran added 09:53 - Aug 25 Hopefully I'll have finished my drug smuggling from Guatemala to El Salvador in time to catch it. My donkey is quite speedy when he knows the town are playing.
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STATMAN added 10:43 - Aug 25 I PLAYED AT PLAYFORD ROAD YEARS AGO WHEN FISONS OWNED IT. I AM NOT SURE THAT BOTH TEAMS WILL ENJOY THE 50MPH WINDS. CANNOT SEE MUCH FOOTBALL BEING PLAYED UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS.
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STATMAN added 10:46 - Aug 25 AND PORTMAN ROAD WONT BE MUCH BETTER EITHER.
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Len_Brennan added 10:57 - Aug 25

The team I'd like to see is :
Holy
Vincent-Young, Woolfenden, Ndaba*, Ward
Bishop, Downes, Huws
Lankester, Hawkins**, Edwards.

*I know Chambers will get picked over Ndaba, but I'd like to see him alongside Woolfenden, to see if they could be a decent partnership.
**Norwood is our best option at centre forward, but only when fit & if his heart is in it. We need to give Hawkins a chance; he's not the finisher Norwood is, nor has the pace of Jackson, but in that formation, he offers strength in the air & opportunities for the zippier attackers around him, through knock downs, hold up & layoffs.