James Tomkins should be okay for huge West Ham clash

 
Ken Dyer24 March 2014

James Tomkins hopes his ankle problem will not rule him out of what he described today as a “massive” game at home to Hull on Wednesday.

Tomkins is having treatment on the injury, the result of a challenge from Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini on Saturday.

“I felt it was a poor tackle,” said the defender. “The referee could have booked him but I don’t want to dwell on that, we were just not good enough.

“The ankle is sore now but, hopefully, I’ll be okay by Wednesday.”

The 2-0 defeat was West Ham’s third loss in a row and they now face Hull, who are only two points above them in the table, before heading to Sunderland next Monday.

Tomkins added: “I thought against United we were a bit too predictable with the long ball but we gave it a go and nothing really fell for us in the box.

“We can’t dwell on this defeat, though. The results elsewhere went our way and Wednesday night is a massive game for us. Another two or three wins will do it and the next two games are going to be huge.”

United scored with a spectacular effort from Wayne Rooney from just inside the West Ham half but Sam Allardyce was adamant a free-kick should have been awarded for a foul on Tomkins (above). “I felt I was nudged for the first goal,” said the player.

Allardyce said: “If James Tomkins had fallen on the floor after being nudged, the referee would have given a free-kick. It doesn’t matter how slight the touch is, it was enough to stop him heading the ball and that makes it a free-kick.

“The assistant referee was not doing his job properly because he was just a few yards away.”

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