Hammers were promised a cup run and they want one

On Tuesday, West Ham travel up to Burnley for the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.

West Ham have defeated Cheltenham Town (2-1) and Cardiff City (3-2), both at the Boleyn ground. Tuesday’s hosts Burnley have defeated York City, Preston North End and Nottingham Forest.

Burnley have been in fantastic form and are currently on a seven game winning streak in the Championship, which has seen them sit proudly at the summit for this clash. Striker Danny Ings has been scoring for fun of late, with 13 goals in all competitions including four in the Capital One Cup.

Ravel Morrison has 2 goals in 2 appearances in the Capital One Cup this campaign. West Ham’s away form has been something to savour and with added goals could be the vocal point of the season.

TEAM NEWS

Burnley

Ex-Hammer Junior Stanislas is likely to be given the start against his former side. Ings will be the main focus of West Ham’s solid defence during the pre-match studying.

West Ham

Ricardo Vaz Te will miss his first game since dislocating his shoulder versus Swansea City. Andy Carroll and Alou Diarra remain out through long-term injuries.

Carlton Cole, who made his second debut at the weekend, will be expecting a start-up top. It is also expected that Leo Chambers, Matt Taylor and Adrian will all make appearances as they have in previous rounds of the cup. It is also likely that after returning from a short-term loan spell at Bournemouth that Jack Collison will play some part in the Round of 32 clash.

Round-Up

This will be a tougher match-up than a Premier League side. Burnley will certainly want to win this match and go as far as possible in the competition. West Ham will have to match that desire for the quality to make a difference.

I doubt that Big Sam will start this game without a striker and so I would expect Carlton Cole to lead the line on his own and I think we would all love him to bag a goal.

Sadly, the opposition pose the biggest goalscoring threat in Danny Ings, and if our usual solid defensive style can stop him, then we’ve gone a large way in stopping Burnley.

The fans want a cup run and were promised one by the chairman and manager at the start of the season. We are one win away from being quarter-finalists. The only thing that matters in the cup is progressing. With youngsters and fringe players getting game-time the performance will not reflect on the first team during a Premier League game.

Although West Ham pose such a fantastic away conceding record, with the exclusions of Jussi Jaaskelainen, Winston Reid and possibly James Tomkins, and with Ings’ goalscoring prowess, I think both teams to score is a safe bet.

My prediction for this Capital One Cup Round of 16 match will be;

Burnley 1-2 West Ham