The opposition are weakening...

Unfortunate news for West Ham this evening. Dean Ashton suffered an injury in training this morning, and scans have now confirmed that he has broken his ankle and will miss not only the England game tomorrow night, but also the start of the Premiership season.

One man's bad fortune is usually another man's blessing in disguise, and while I wish Ashton all the best in his recovery from injury I am excited that now there is a definite possibility of Darren Bent claiming another start for the Three Lions tomorrow against Greece. Even if McClaren opts to go with Crouch and Defoe up front, Bent is the only other striker in the squad, so he should certainly play some part in the match. Ashton of course will also be missing from West Ham's starting line up against us on Saturday.

News has also been released today that both Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes have been unsuccessful in their appeals to get pre-season red cards overturned, and the three match bans given to both players by FIFA have been upheld. These bans will allow both players to play in their first match of the season against Fulham, but the suspensions conveniently come into effect the day before we are due to play United at The Valley.

Those tough first two games have just become that little bit less daunting..

Also, I’d like to offer an official welcome to the club to Scott Carson, our new on loan goalkeeper from Anfield. I wasn't over-enamoured with the news when it broke yesterday but all of the football sites and forums that I frequent have served to assure me that the man has a big future in the game. Some Liverpool fans that I speak to regularly have even claimed that they expected him to play 15+ games this season, so it looks like we have got ourselves a good deal there. Hopefully we can persuade them to part with him on a permanent basis before his fee inflates itself to more than we can afford. Dowie talks more about the signing here.