ALL EYES ON NSOFOR

Obinna
West Ham manager, Avram Grant, expects Super Eagles' striker, Victor Obinna Nsofor, to reinvent his game as the Hammers, now playing with a newfound energy, engage Wolverhampton Wanderers at Upton Park in a game to save their respective skins.

The Hammers halted their streak of losses with an emphatic 3-1 defeat of Fulham on Boxing Day and showed signs of new form after playing out a 1-1 draw with Everton two days after.

They are now looking good to continue in that frame, as they gun for the heads of the invading Wolves to announce their resolve to quit the drop zone in no distant time.

Having hauled in three points in their last two outings, they have been every inch emboldened, and if they sustain their form, they might further compound Wolves' woes.

Expectedly, Grant will be unleashing Nsofor on the opponents as he searches for the full marks.

The bulky Nigerian has consistently proved himself as a big threat to many Premiership sides that have engaged West Ham in recent times. If he gets his acts right in today's Upton Park war, the visitors will be counting their losses at regulation time.

The Hammers struggled all through last season under former manager, Gianfranco Zola, and only managed to escape the drop by the whiskers. They ended the season 17th on the table.

Now back on their familiar terrain, they need soft games like this one so to say, to change the text of their rating.

However, from the look of things, both sides will not find the game an easy one. Wolves too need it to re-launch their fight against the drop. With legs stuck in the mire, a win for them will prove more than a boost.

Therefore, manager Mick McCarthy, understandably, will be lining the duo of Steve Fletcher and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake for this one. Both players remain his battleaxes for this encounter.