Defensive duo close to Hammers return

West Ham could have central defensive pairing Matthew Upson and Anton Ferdinand available for the final Barclays Premier League game of the season against Aston Villa.

Lucas Neill and James Tomkins were teamed together for the Saturday’s defeat at Manchester United but Hammers assistant boss Mervyn Day is hopeful that Upson (calf) and Ferdinand (hamstring) could feature in the season finale.

“Ferdinand was running on the pitch before the (Manchester United) game so we’re hopeful that he might have a chance of being fit,” Day told the club’s official website www.whufc.com.

“Matty did some running on Friday so we’re hopeful but we’ve been hopeful of a few of them for three or four weeks.”