Wednesday Carabao Cup round two preview: West Ham travel to Cheltenham Town live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 23 August 2017 22:05, UK
West Ham travel to Cheltenham Town live on Sky Sports on Wednesday night as Slaven Bilic's side look to kickstart their season with victory in the Carabao Cup second-round tie.
The Hammers have begun the Premier League season with two defeats, against Manchester United and Southampton, but Bilic will be aiming to arrest the slide and guide his men into the third round at Whaddon Road.
The Robins were comfortably beaten 3-0 at Carlisle on Saturday and are currently 20th in League Two with three points from three games, but Bilic has insisted he will not take his opponents lightly.
"We will take a strong squad to Cheltenham," he said. "Maybe a few players will stay and obviously the players still not fit will not come.
"Only with the players like [Michail] Antonio - who came back after a long injury and played on Saturday - will we be thinking about the Newcastle game.
Live Carabao Cup
"Some of them are only in their first few days of training like [Manuel] Lanzini. But if it stays like that we have a really strong squad."
West Ham are one of six Premier League sides in action on Wednesday, with high-flying Huddersfield Town entertaining Rotherham United at the John Smith's Stadium, while Wolves visit Southampton at St Mary's.
Elsewhere, there is a Lancashire derby as Blackburn Rovers host Burnley at Ewood Park looking to bridge the two divisions that now separate the sides, while four-time League Cup winners Nottingham Forest travel to face Newcastle at St James' Park.
Like Bilic, Rafa Benitez is in desperate need of a morale-boosting victory after a pointless return so far in the top flight, but Forest will fancy their chances of an upset with the side fourth in the Championship.
Stoke will look to build on their fine victory over Arsenal by progressing to the next round against League One Rochdale at the bet365 Stadium.
