Allardyce defends Cup policy

  • by Staff Writer
  • Sunday, 5th January 2014

Sam Allardyce says that he fielded a seriously weakened team at Nottingham Forest this afternoon in order to protect his senior players ahead of Wednesday night's Capital One Cup semi final, first leg at Manchester City.

Allardyce - along with almost 3,000 embarrassed travelling supporters - watched his team thrashed 5-0 by the Championship side before insisting that he had very little choice in the matter, given West Ham's busy programme of fixtures and his chronic shortage of fully fit, first team players.

"My experience told me to play the young players today to protect the players I've got fit at the moment to play in the Capital One Cup semi final," he told 5-Live's Rob Nothman. "It's a very difficult period for us all and nobody knows more than I do how important it is and what it means to everybody - myself included.

"But I have to keep professional, I have to keep focused on what is the right thing to do - not just for the next game but for the next few games that are coming up and manage that situation to make sure we've got the best chance for Wednesday and at Cardiff after."

Allardyce also praised his young debutants for their efforts today, but conceded that they ran out of steam as the game progressed. "The sad thing is, after an hour I thought they were showing a reasonable understanding of how the game has to be played against a very strong Championship side here at Forest," he said.

"It was looking like we may get back in the game at 1-0 as we had some chances, but when the second goal went in they lost their shape, they lost their desire to defend correctly and they chased the game - and when you chase a game, you very rarely get in back.

"What they did was leave themselves too open and allow Forest to score at will in the final part of the game, which was a shame considering how well some of them had done up to the hour. But the game is 90 minutes [long], not 60."


Eight Games In 32 Days: Big Sam's January Backlog

Weds, 1st Jan: Fulham (a) 1-2
Sun, 5th Jan: Nottingham Forest (a) 0-5
Weds, 8th Jan: Manchester City (a)
Sat, 11th Jan: Cardiff City (a)
Sat, 18th Jan: Newcastle United (h)
Tues, 21st Jan: Manchester City (h)
Weds, 29th Jan: Chelsea (a)
Sat, 1st Feb: Swansea (h)


Injury Outlook: Return Dates

James Tomkins: Fit for Man City or Cardiff
James Collins: Fit for Man City or Cardiff
Ricardo Vaz Te: Mid-to-late January
Andy Carroll: Mid-to-late January
Winston Reid: Early-to-mid February

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