HAMMERS HOPE FOR OCTOBER TITI RETURN

The £2.2 million signing from Liverpool has played just seven times in a Hammers shirt since sealing his switch last Christmas, with both the player and manager Glenn Roeder (pictured) acknowledging this is a poor return.

A knee injury has frustrated the former Reds star's attempts to make an impact, and West Ham physio John Green is hopeful that a decision to send the Ghanaian to a French clinic will reap long-term benefits.

" What we've done with Titi is send him to France as he wasn't responding too well rehab in this country," Green told the West Ham official website.

"We fully understand it is not easy when you don't speak good English.

"So he has checked in to a clinic that we approve of in Calais and will be spending the next fortnight there.

"He should be able to do some sort of football training by the end of September.

"I would think he will be able to play a reserve game some time in October, after which he will need a few games to get completely fit.

"Trevor Sinclair made a rapid recovery after his knee problem but it was a different operation from Titi's.

"The surgery was done in a slightly better place in the knee than for Titi so it is taking a little bit longer.

"But the surgery was done by the same guy and if Titi could show the same amount of effort and commitment that Trevor did in the summer he should be playing again in the not too distant future."