Grant wary of manager-less Albion

West Ham manager Avram Grant believes West Brom will still pose a big threat this Saturday despite their opponents sacking their manager last weekend.

The Baggies axed Roberto Di Matteo after their 3-0 loss to Manchester City and as things stand will host the clash at the Hawthorns without a permanent manager.

However despite a chaotic build-up, Grant believes West Brom, who will play the match under first-team coach Michael Appleton, will provide a stern test as both sides scrap for their Premier League lives at the foot of the table.

“It will be a difficult game and it’s not easy because all the players want to impress the new manager,” said Grant.

“You never know what an easy and what a difficult game is. Sometimes when you play at home you think it’s easier but in this game anything can happen.”

“I hope this weekend will be good for us and we know that we need to take points to stay in the league. We know we can win this game.”

The Israeli offered his sympathies to the sacked Di Matteo but revealed he was not surprised at the dismissal given the current expectations in the modern game.

“It will not be the first and it won’t be the last time it will happen. I think it’s always the easiest solution but sometimes the solution is not the right solution,” Grant said.

“I always feel sorry for managers that have been sacked, especially for him.”

“He took the team from the Championship to the Premier League. He started the season very well and I think when there is a difficult time everyone needs to be together.”

“I think people are not prepared to be patient when you want to build a team on good foundations and it’s not stable.”

Three points against West Brom could see the Hammers creep out of the bottom three but Grant knows a prolonged stay out of the relegation zone won’t be easy.

“We have spoken to the players about this,” he added. “We have done it two times (got out of the bottom three) but always take two steps forward and then one back. ”

“The other results may go against us like the two weekends before so it seems we have one good weekend and then a not-so-good weekend.”

Long-term absentee Thomas Hitzlsperger continued his recovery from a thigh injury by playing in a reserve match this week, however Grant played down the chances of the German featuring at the weekend.

“He played 60 minutes yesterday and he is looking good,” Grant said. “I think he will be available soon. Saturday maybe too soon but it depends on the player and we will see how he is after training tomorrow.”

Loan signing Robbie Keane will miss the trip after picking up a calf injury on international duty with the Republic of Ireland, while James Tomkins joins him on the sidelines with a similar problem which he sustained in the warm-up before the Birmingham match last weekend.

Defender Matthew Upson has also been ruled out with an Achilles’ injury.