November 27th, 2009 by Phil Lythell

Good news off the pitch has been rare in recent months, so manager Gianfranco Zola knows there could be no better time than to ease the West Ham‘s relegation worries with a home victory over a Burnley side that has yet to win away this season.

The players are making slow progress in their journey away from the relegation zone however. Though they have lost only one of their last five Premier League games three of those have been drawn, including the 3-3 thriller at Hull last weekend.

As a result, the Hammers will kick off with only their goal difference tally keeping them out of the bottom three but Wigan, one place and three points ahead, are also in their sights.

Burnley have picked up just one point away fromTurf Moor so far so Zola will not have to ponder too long on his tactics, which will revolve around putting as strong an attacking side as possible on to the pitch. Danny Gabbidon is back after a two-month lay-off and did well at left back at Hull, so previous first choice Herita Ilunga is likely to remain on the bench.

Long-term absentees Dean Ashton and Luis Boa Morte remain off the radar but defensive duo James Tomkins and Alessandro Da Costa face tests. Midfielder Kieron Dyer is back in contention following a hamstring problem.

Burnley manager Owen Coyle wants his side to continue playing an attacking brand of football. The Clarets’ manager has earned huge praise this season for the attractive football his side is producing in their first season in the Premier League.

He said: “We do try and entertain in games and we believe that the best thing for us to do is play attacking football so that is what we will try and do.

“We will have to be on our guard because they are a quality team but we want to impose ourselves on the match.”

Coyle’s side are currently in 11th spot in the Premier League and look comfortable at English football’s highest level.

Pundits had backed them to be guaranteed relegation favourites but Coyle has engineered six wins out of seven at home to ensure they are in a perfectly safe position as Christmas approaches.

Coyle added: “I think everyone in the Premier League, or they certainly did at the start of the season, thought that ‘here comes Burnley, here is a great chance for three points’ and I don’t mind that. It up to them how they view us. My concentration is on my players and getting the most out of them.

“We have proved that we can get points in this division, the best league in the world, and that is what we need to keep on doing.”

Coyle needs to send his side out full of self-belief against Hammers side that has won just once on home soil all term. A 4-3-3 formation would help Burnley highlight that they will not be bullied by West Ham as well as give Graham Alexander, Andre Bikey and full-backs Stephen Jordan and Tyrone Mears the opportunity to get forward and help forwards Stephen Fletcher and Robbie Blake.

A weak goal conceded to Aston Villa towards the end of last week’s match proves that Burnley’s defence can be breached at times so captain Steven Caldwell and fellow central defender Clarke Carlisle will be looking to return to peak form to ensure the Villa goal does not become a habit.

Martin Paterson, Chris McCann and Jay Rodriguez all remain long-term absentees for Burnley but apart from those problems, they are likely to name the same team that drew 1-1 with Aston Villa last weekend.

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