West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says he is facing a defensive crisis after losing two players during the defeat at Liverpool.
James Collins struggled through a hamstring problem but eventually had to come off, while Winston Reid limped off in the latter stages as the Hammers lost 2-0 at Anfield.
With James Tomkins already injured, Allardyce is struggling for choice in defence and, with a key Premier League clash against Manchester United to come next week, the Hammers boss is praying that Collins and Reid won’t be out for two long.
“It’s more than an issue, it’s a crisis for us now,” he said. “Him and Reidy going down has left us a massive hole and I’m not sure how long they’re going to be.
“We’ve got to try and face the crisis as best we can. It will be difficult, but it’s all hands on pumps for the medical staff to get the lads back as quick as we can, particularly with next week just as important for us, and the week after when the FA Cup arrives.”
Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge scored as Liverpool took the points on Saturday afternoon as West Ham’s bright start faded away into defeat.
While admitting his side didn’t play their best on Merseyside, Allardyce couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been different if he had fewer injuries.
“I think in the end, due to our injury problems, it’s cost us anything we might have got here today,” he added.
“I don’t think Liverpool were outstanding at all – certainly in the first half we could see that. What we didn’t do was play as well as we could.
Stretched
“But [Collins] came off at half time saying he’s got a hamstring [injury], and of course he wanted to try and play on and that caused us problems, because when you’ve got a bit of an injury marking Sterling is not easy, so our game got stretched and in the end we had to try and change him.
“By that time we’re 1-0 down and Reidy comes off as well. Andy Carroll hurt himself, so that’s three on top of the seven we had [injured] before we played and that’s too much for us to cope with today when you’re playing somewhere like Anfield.
“It’s a great shame for us today. As hard as we tried the forces went against us in terms of injuries particularly. On another day with players staying fit, other players getting on the pitch who we missed today’s game, I think we’d have made a better game of it.”
Despite having a threadbare defence, the Hammers boss thinks it is very unlikely the club will look to bring in cover at centre-back ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline.
Allardyce added: “Probably not. Not in the central defensive area because you end up pulling somebody from abroad who probably hasn’t played for his club, and because he hasn’t played for his club would not be up to speed coming in and playing at this level.”
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