| Date/Time: | Nov 30, 2010, 2:45pm ( 19:45 GMT ) |
| Competition: | England Carling Cup |
| Live/Repeat: | Live |
West Ham will be without cup-tied defender Lars Jacobsen for the Carling Cup quarter-final against Manchester United.
Midfielder Scott Parker could be rested as Irons boss Avram Grant looks to protect key men from burnout, but Kieron Dyer may return from a hamstring problem.
Mark Noble (hip) is set for another spell on the sidelines having only just returned from an appendix operation, while Manuel Da Costa (ankle), Thomas Hitzlsperger (thigh) and Jack Collison (knee) remain out.
Grant does not believe United can make it all the way through the season without defeat - but warned Sir Alex Ferguson's men have a habit of coming good in the end.
By his own admission, Ferguson believes the Red Devils have yet to play to their full potential, but nevertheless returned to the top of the Barclays Premier League following Saturday's 7-1 demolition of Blackburn at Old Trafford.
United are unbeaten so far, with seven draws and eight wins from 15 league games, and have yet to concede a goal in Europe.
Grant went head to head with Ferguson in the 2008 Champions League final, when his Chelsea side were beaten on penalties in Moscow as United added European glory to their domestic title.
The Israeli feels while the Red Devils are a class act, to extend the current unbeaten record through to May is perhaps too big an ask.
"It has happened before with Arsenal, but I don't think it will [again],'' said Grant.
"What happened with Arsenal was exceptional. I don't believe there is a team which can last all the season without losing.''
The former Portsmouth boss, however, is in no doubt United will be leading the chase for honours again in 2011.
"When I was at Chelsea, Alex [Ferguson] described that season as the best season ever - but even then they did not start so well,'' Grant said.
"You don't need to be at your best in the first few months, but at the end of the season.
"Alex is very clever. He does it every year. I can't remember one season when United started with full power.''
West Ham have worries at the other end of the table, as they remain bottom despite Saturday's morale-lifting home win over Wigan.
However, the Irons boss also knows the importance of the fixture, having reached the last eight with hard-fought victories at Sunderland and against Stoke.
"Many of the players we have in the squad this season have had long-term injuries, so we have to manage them differently,'' Grant said.
"We are doing all we can so they can play, sometimes we succeed, sometimes not.
"It is not very often that West Ham comes to a quarter-final of any competition, so we will try to win this game.''
Ferguson is expected to make massive changes to his side with Javier Hernandez, Chris Smalling and Wes Brown amongst those who will hope to be involved.
A new goalkeeper is also expected as Edwin van der Sar stands down in favour of either Tomasz Kuszczak or Ben Amos.
And Brown is eager to make the most of his opportunities before his advancing years catch up with him.
Now past his 31st birthday and with his present contract due to expire at the end of next season, Brown is not sure how much time he has left at Old Trafford.
Given his lack of first-team opportunities in recent times, it could even be that Brown leaves Old Trafford during one of the next two transfer windows.
"I am not getting any younger now and every game I do play I just try to enjoy and do my best for the team,'' he said.
"You have to give everything for the cause. That is the most important thing for me.''
Brown has missed three games since his involvement in a run of six games from seven came to an end following the scrappy display at Aston Villa earlier this month.
He is a Carling Cup ever-present this season, though, skippering United to victory over Wolves in the last round and it would be no surprise he was handed the armband again as Ferguson makes an anticipated large number of changes.
"It has been great to be back playing some games,'' said Brown.
"I am really enjoying things at the moment. I am training hard and hopefully I will have more opportunities in the coming months.''
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