Croatia coach Niko Kovac has apologised for the ugly scenes in the crowd that marred his side’s 1-1 draw with Italy in Milan yesterday.

Croatia coach Niko Kovac labelled a controversial penalty award against his side as "ridiculous" and warned that the World Cup will turn into "a circus" if referees do not improve.

Iceland are planning to ratchet up the pressure on Croatia tonight and become the smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup finals.

Carlton Cole will make his 100th Premier League start for West Ham today as they look to move off the bottom with a victory over fellow strugglers Blackburn at Upton Park.

Matthew Upson (Achilles) took part in a light training session today but is unlikely to be involved in West Ham’s game against Liverpool on Sunday.

West Ham will give a debut to Thomas Hitzlsperger in their FA Cup fifth round clash with Burnley on Monday.

West Ham will give a late fitness test to calf injury victim Robbie Keane before deciding whether to include him in their squad for tomorrow’s clash with relegation rivals West Brom.

Winston Reid replaced the injured Danny Gabbidon in defence for West Ham as they looked to climb out of the relegation zone with a vital win over fellow strugglers Birmingham at Upton Park.

Avram Grant will wait to see strikers Frederic Piquionne and Carlton Cole in a late training session before naming his side for Sunday’s clash against Birmingham.

ROBBIE KEANE struck a debut goal and Victor Obinna hit two more as West Ham climbed off the bottom of the Barclays Premier League last night.

New signings Robbie Keane, Demba Ba and Gary O’Neil are all in contention to make their West Ham debuts at Blackpool tomorrow.

AVRAM GRANT saw his West Ham side squeeze through to an FA Cup fifth-round meeting with Burnley as new signing Robbie Keane looked on.

West Ham midfielder Scott Parker will start tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash with Everton.

West Ham forward Victor Obinna is suspended after being sent off against Birmingham in the Carling Cup in midweek.

Matthew Upson and Scott Parker both returned to Avram Grant’s starting XI as the West Ham boss looked to ease the pressure on his shoulders with a win against Birmingham in tonight’s Carling Cup semi-final first leg.

West Ham manager Avram Grant is set to reshuffle his team for tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round tie.

LEON BEST reminded Alan Pardew there is more than one striker on Tyneside as Newcastle dumped woeful West Ham deep into relegation mire.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew went into tonight’s Barclays Premier League with former club West Ham without both of his first-choice strikers.

West Ham will check on Lars Jacobsen and Valon Behrami ahead of the Barclays Premier League trip to Newcastle.

Valon Behrami could return for West Ham’s Barclays Premier League relegation six-pointer against Wolves tomorrow after a month out with a hip injury.

AVRAM GRANT hit out at the scheduling that forced West Ham to play twice in three days after last night’s 1-1 draw against an Everton side who had an eight-day break before the match.

West Ham 1 Everton 1

Robert Green, Victor Obinna and Valon Behrami are all expected to return to the West Ham squad for their crunch December 26 game at Fulham.

West Ham will give fitness tests to midfielder Valon Behrami (hip) and defender Lars Jacobsen (heel) ahead of tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League match at Blackburn.

Barclays Premier League strugglers West Ham made four changes for the visit of high-flying Manchester City.

West Ham will give a fitness test to Valon Behrami before deciding whether the midfielder will play any part in tomorrow’s Premier League match against Manchester City.

ALEX FERGUSON was hoping his latest batch of fledglings would go on to dominate the English game — but on the evidence of this display, they still need a long way to go before they challenge for major silverware.

Carlton Cole has been relegated to the bench by West Ham manager Avram Grant for this afternoon’s crunch Premier League clash against fellow strugglers Wigan at Upton Park.

West Ham will check on the fitness of influential midfielder Scott Parker ahead of tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash against Wigan at Upton Park.

Scott Parker is a major doubt ahead of West Ham’s Barclays Premier League trip to Liverpool.

Manchester City's Adam Johnson has been recalled to the Manchester City line-up for this afternoon’s visit of Birmingham.

West Ham midfielder Mark Noble will miss tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash with Blackpool as he continues his comeback after having his appendix removed.

DEFIANT West Ham manager Avram Grant maintained his struggling side had again shown enough to secure victory, despite having to once more settle for only a point against West Brom.

West Ham made two changes as they looked to move off the bottom of the Barclays Premier League with victory over West Brom at Upton Park.

Midfielder Mark Noble will miss tomorrow's visit of West Brom despite returning to light fitness work this week after having his appendix removed.

England defender Matthew Upson could return to West Ham’s starting line-up for their trip to Birmingham tomorrow.

Theo Walcott has to be content with a place on the bench for Arsenal’s Premier League clash with bottom club West Ham.

Matthew Upson is pushing for a return to action against Newcastle after missing West Ham’s draw at Wolves last weekend with a neck strain.

Kieron Dyer could miss West Ham’s Premier League clash with Fulham tomorrow through illness.

Luka Modric was named in Tottenham’s starting line-up against West Ham at Upton Park this afternoon after making a speedy recovery from the leg injury he suffered against West Brom two weeks ago.

Thomas Hitzlsperger will not make his West Ham debut in tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash with Tottenham.

West Ham have no fresh injury worries for tomorrow’s trip to Stoke, where manager Avram Grant will not be in the dug out as he observes the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

Chelsea’s new signing from Benfica, Ramires, will make his full Premier League debut for the Blues against West ham at Upton Park today.

Avram Grant could hand debuts to striker Victor Obinna and right-back Lars Jacobsen as he aims to end West Ham’s faltering start to the season against Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea.