West Ham vs Spurs - Tim's preview

Tim Sherwood insists we have to stay 'switched on' for the 90 minutes at West Ham tomorrow.

We travel to Upton Park for a 12.45pm kick-off with the players determined to put right two defeats to the Hammers at the Lane earlier in the season.

“We’re disappointed with the two home results,” said Tim. “Obviously, the League Cup game was my first and we dominated but got suckered by a couple of long balls forward, and that’s what West Ham are all about. We’re expecting that.

“They won in the league with breakaway goals, we know they have a threat and we will treat them with respect.

“You have to stay switched on because the transition of play into your back four can happen very quickly.

“The players are aware, we’ve worked on defending crosses, winning second balls in the midfield and when we get the ball, we need to play our normal game. We need to break quickly and that’s what we’ll try to implement.”

Andy Carroll will lead the line for the Hammers. “He’s one of the best target men in English football, an old-fashioned centre forward who puts himself about and all defenders know they are in a game when they play against him,” added Tim.

“West Ham will look to get wide and deliver crosses to him and we need to look to nullify that threat and when we get the ball, break quickly and dominate possession.

“This is a great game to play in, a big London derby."