Roeder praise for Hutchison after father's death

West Ham manager Glenn Roeder has praised Don Hutchison for making himself available for selection following the death of his father at the weekend.

Hutchison’s father died on Sunday but the midfielder was prepared to play for the bottom club in yesterday’s Premiership clash at Charlton, which was postponed, and is again available for Saturday’s FA Cup third-round clash at home to Nottingham Forest.

“Don lost his father on Sunday and when he came back to training the other day I had a private chat with him,” said Roeder.

“I told him I knew exactly what he was going through, because I lost my father at 16 so I am talking of the experience of knowing how Don feels.

“All our thoughts are with Don and his family, particularly his mum and his brother. It is a very tough time for anyone when they lose any member of their family, so he has got the support of the club and anything he needs to do, the club will help him until such time as he is over the loss.

“He would have been involved against Charlton as he wanted to be; he would probably have started the game from the bench which, considering the situation he has just experienced, is very good of him to make himself available.”

The cancellation of yesterday’s game thanks to a waterlogged pitch at The Valley has given one or two players a bit more time to rest ahead of the cup game, although club captain Steve Lomas remains a doubt because of an ankle problem.

Roeder told the club’s official website, www.whufc.com: “Steve has played in the last five or six games when he could just as easily not put himself up for selection.

“That shows how good his character is and how much he wants to get out of the present situation like all the players do.

“Every time he plays he is not finishing 90 minutes and is having to come off, which is not ideal.

“What we have to do now is make a decision as to whether we let him have an injection that will probably mean him missing the next game, and we will make that decision very soon.

“But by doing that hopefully it will ensure he is fit for the rest of the season.”