Glenn Roeder takes his depleted West Ham side to Anfield tomorrow hoping to see his strugglers repeat the form that saw them win at Chelsea and draw with Arsenal.

Hammers have already made a habit of raising their game against the most daunting opposition, and despite the absence of strike duo Fredi Kanoute and Paolo Di Canio, Roeder believes they can upset the odds again.

"We certainly need a win," he said as his side languish perilously close to the drop zone with 11 points from 11 games.

"This is the first of several tough games coming up in the league but our best performance was the one against Arsenal.

"We led 2-0 on merit and we should have gone on to win the game. We showed there and at Chelsea that we are capable of performing against the best in the Premiership, and that's what we have to do again."

Jermain Defoe should continue but alongside him he could give a rare start to Titi Camara.

However, when faced with this dilemma in the past, the boss has used Trevor Sinclair or Joe Cole in a more advanced role.

Published Friday November 1, 2002

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