West Ham preview

It may feel like the season is over after Wednesday ensured the ultimate goal is out of reach, but City still need a point at Upton Park to avoid further embarrassment by slipping down to sixth. The season also seems over for West Ham as well but the difference between finishing 14th (their highest possible finish) and 17th (their lowest) is £2.4m - which, for a club dogged by financial uncertainty, is no small sum. It has been a bit of a torrid season for the Hammers but I'm sure they won't want to go out with a whimper - even if the entire squad, minus Scott Parker, is up for sale, allegedly.

Mancini has hinted he will make some changes - to look after his 'very tired' players - but he won't want to risk losing here, so I imagine the changes will be minimal (Bellamy maybe? Save his knees and some booing!), with maybe a few academy players to play cameos under the right circumstances. Nimley may be looking for another appearance after his goal in the Senior Cup final, for example, and Ibrahim may see the injuries in midfield as his chance to notch up another first-team showing.

Barry's injury should see a Vieira/De Jong midfield partnership and they will be coming up against Parker - the man Zola sees as Barry's international replacement. Barry now joins a list of City players in and around the England squad who face last minute disappointments - Lescott, Wright-Phillips and Barry all have large question marks against them despite featuring in the last England squads.

City's last victory at West Ham came on the opening day of 07/08 season when City had an almost entirely new squad under the Thaksin Shinawatra days - and one of my favourite away journeys of recent seasons. There was so much gloom as the previous season ended in the barren home form under Stuart Pearce - the season we famously had had no home goals in that calendar year - so that game, with Sven, Elano, Bianchi, et al, seemed like such a new beginning, and there was more genuine optimism, elation and disbelief that day than there has been even in the last two years. Goals from Bianchi and Geovanni (after a superb run by Nedum) sealed the victory that day - and things, complete with the usual ups-and-downs, have been improving ever since. A controversial character, maybe, but none of what has happened today would have happened without Thaksin's 'interference'.

Tomorrow's team could look like this:

4-2-3-1:

Fulop; Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Bridge; Vieira, De Jong; Wright-Phillips, Tevez, Adam Johnson; Adebayor.

Bellamy has said in the past that he struggles with two games a week now, so three could be a step too far for him and Shauny could be up for putting in a possible farewell performance (I hope not). Tevez will be up against his favourite club in England and I'm sure his comments about wanting to return there at some point in his career will ensure an already certain warm reception.

City will have had to pick themselves up sufficiently to avoid embarrassment here, but I am sure that the determination to avoid such an event is high enough amongst the players. It has been a good season and it would be nice to end it on a high.