West ham take on Perth

West Ham United take on Perth Glory at the Optus Stadium tomorrow in their first game of their brief Australian adventure.

It is difficult to work out who had the worst domestic campaign last season, with the Irons flirting with relegation  and Perth having yet another battle near the bottom of the A-League and still have not appointed a new manager

We started our busy pre-season schedule against Boreham Wood on Monday.

Where goals from Danny Ings, Kamarai Swyer, Jarrod Bowen and Gideon Kodua saw a Hammers side without several senior players comfortably beat their National League opponents 4-1 at Meadow Park.

With time not on their side, the Irons’ recruitment team are still trying desperately to replace Declan Rice and to bolster the squad, but of those still available to our Supremo have travelled to Australia, where they will not only play Perth but also contest a “London derby” against Tottenham Hotspur.

Just less than a month remains before we visit the seaside and play Bournemouth to kick off the 2023-24 campaign, so West Ham’s players – particularly those on the fringes or hoping for promotion to the senior squad – will want to showcase their skills to the club’s coaching staff.

A number of our less heralded players should also make an appearance on Saturday, including the promising 20-year-old Kamarai Swyer, but Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio will be unavailable due to being granted an extended break following their international duty; also going to be absent will be full-back Ben Johnson who was part of England’s success at the Under-21 Euros.

I hope all our CandH Aussie supporters have a great night !