Aaron Cresswell (£5.1m) and Fabian Balbuena (£4.4m) are both set to be assessed for West Ham’s tie at home to Cardiff tonight. Manuel Pellegrini said : “From the last team, we have Cresswell, who has a hamstring injury, which is why he couldn’t continue the game. We will see him tomorrow and make the last decision, but it could be difficult. We must see about Balbuena. He had a hard kick on Saturday. Those are the two players that have some problems. We have the same players that weren’t on our list in the last game because all of them have long injuries.”

The West Ham boss indicated after Saturday’s win that he could stick with two up front, so Chicharito (£6.2m) may start again after a brace at St James’ Park. Pellegrini explained : “I normally like to play with two strikers, maybe I was so scared to come here before because everyone told me that West Ham haven't won here many times in the last 20 seasons, so I had some doubt of course over who to play. In the end I went with two strikers and finally we played very good.” If the manager reverts to a 4-1-4-1, Pedro Obiang (£4.4m) could earn a recall in central midfield.

Felipe Anderson (£7.1m) and Robert Snodgrass (£5.3m) look set to continue in the wide midfield positions. At his press conference yesterday, Pellegrini added on the pair: “I think Felipe is improving in his performance. He is knowing better, in the Premier League, what he can do and what he must not do. He played a very good game and I think we are just, in the first part of the season, to decide which is the best player. He is improving in every game and that is important for us. I spoke with [Snodgrass] at the beginning of the season. I always found him a good player, but it just depended on what he wanted and if he had a spot here in our squad for the season. There were very few words that I spoke with him at the beginning of the season. I gave him some demands about his weight and his work, and I think he is a very professional player who is doing it very well, because he has the desire to be here.”