CITY boss Stuart Pearce could be forced to push Micah Richards into midfield for the trip to West Ham.

Dietmar Hamann (back) and Claudio Reyna (hamstring) are injured, while Joey Barton starts a three-match ban, so Pearce's options are severely limited and Richards may be asked to partner Stephen Ireland and Ousmane Dabo in the Blues engine room.

Paul Dickov (toe) and Darius Vassell (groin) are both major doubts too as City look to record their first win at Upton Park in the Premiership era and in the process, achieve back-to-back league victories for the first time in almost 15 months.

Pearce, who played at Upton Park under Harry Redknapp, is convinced that Alan Curbishley, the new Hammers boss, has inherited the most talented squad of players the East End club has had since the days of Bobby Moore and company.

The City chief doesnét see them remaining in the bottom three for long, though he expressed surprise that Alan Pardew was shown the door so quickly after the takeover.

éI look back over Alan Pardewés career as a manager and the only unsuccessful time he has had is a couple of monthsé results at West Ham and that is bearing in mind they finished ninth on their return to the Premiership and reached the FA Cup final,é he declared.

Supporters

éFrom my point of view I found the sacking unusual and sad but football clubs and supporters get very jumpy nowadays.

éThe sacking was unusual but what West Ham did was put a very good manager on the open market and Charlton have snapped him up, so for them it is a fantastic appointment.

éI also feel West Ham have a very good manager in Curbs, who has inherited one of the best squads there has ever been at Upton Park.é

I cannot see them being where they are now in three or four months time so we know that it is a tough game for us.

éTo gauge what a good manager Alan Curbishley is then it is probably best to look at Charlton and what happened to them since he left. People at The Valley got used to being in the top half of the table and I think if you asked their fans now what they thought of Alanés reign they would be positive in their assessment.é

Meanwhile, Nigel Reo-Coker and Paul Konchesky are suspended for the game.

Captain Reo-Coker will serve a one-match ban for picking up five bookings this season, while Konchesky was dismissed for a professional foul against Fulham last week.

James Collins is back in training following a groin injury, while Dean Ashton continues his rehabilitation from a broken ankle suffered at the start of the season.

West Ham United (from): Green, Spector, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, McCartney, Bowyer, Mullins, Etherington, Harewood, Zamora, Benayoun, Sheringham, Tevez, Carroll, Mascherano, Newton, Mears, Dailly, Cole, Pantsil.

Manchester City (from): Weaver, Isaksson, Onuoha, Richards, M Mills, Dunne, Distin, Thatcher, Jordan, Trabelsi, Ireland, Dabo, Miller, Vassell, Dickov, Samaras, Corradi, Beasley.

Last season: West Ham 1 City 0

Key opponent: Carlos Tevez - Livewire Argentinian is still waiting for his first goal in England

Prediction: West Ham 1 City 1 - The two sides are evenly matched, but if the Blues defence plays to its potential they should gain a point

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