West Ham boss Alan Pardew is confident his side can put the transfer speculation surrounding Michael Carrick to one side when the season starts tomorrow.
And the midfielder, said to be courted by Portsmouth, Everton and Middlesbrough, may yet feature in the big kick-off at the Walkers Stadium.
"It's difficult for the other players, because no-one wants to lose their best team-mates," said Pardew.
"I want him to stay but he won't sign a new contract. Whether he plays tomorrow will come down to how he feels.
"It would be a huge risk for us to play him, financially for the club if he picked up an injury and mentally for the rest of the squad if they expect him to go soon.
"There's no easy answer to it but although there's a negative surrounding us at the moment we still have very much a positive feel at the club.
"We will go to Leicester in good spirits."
More on West Ham United atthe official site
Published Friday August 6, 2004
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