West Ham face a crucial test this evening against a Brighton side they’re currently level on points with in the Premier League but Slaven Bilic’s side have a number of concerns ahead of the game.
Andy Carroll is unavailable following his red card in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Burnley, whilst Diafra Sakho also looks set to miss out and Javier Hernandez faces a late fitness test after picking up an injury in training this week.
With West Ham seemingly facing a crisis in the forward position, many fans were hoping to see 20-year-old striker Toni Martinez given his chance as the former Valencia man impressed last weekend for the U23’s.
Martinez has been in rich scoring form for the reserves this year, with his stand-out performance coming with a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Manchester United last week, but Slaven Bilic confirmed in his pre-match press conference yesterday that he wouldn’t be called up for tonight’s game.
That’s left fans angry, particularly as they feel that the club consistently overlook their young talents, and they wasted no time expressing their views on social media.
Why are we suprised? You would think you that the owners would learners from their mistakes from previous seasons 🙄
— Mike (@ClaretNBlue_82) October 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/SamStarbrook/status/921032805907423232
Give Martinez a chance ffs what has he got to do to get in the squad
— Sam (@_SamButler) October 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/renevdl78/status/921045738955698176
Would it be too much to ask for a ‘Toni Martinez’ chant at some point tomorrow evening? #COYI #WHUFC ⚒
— Reece ⚒ (@brooksy2901) October 19, 2017
And another reason why Bilic should be sacked – clueless
— tonygibson (@tonygibson) October 19, 2017
Sakho and Carroll both out and he can’t get on the bench?
— David Lambourne 🐑 ⭐️ 🧭 (@Lambo1966) October 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/rob_1974whu/status/920989232872730624
