David Bentley's in the running to show his starting value - Football - Sport - Evening Standard
       

David Bentley's in the running to show his starting value

David Bentley could make his first start for West Ham tomorrow as Sam Allardyce tinkers with his team for the visit of Ipswich.

The on loan Tottenham midfielder impressed when coming on as a substitute at Millwall and again in Saturday's 1-0 win over Peterborough and could replace Matt Taylor, who has a calf problem.

Midfielder Papa Bouba Diop could also feature for West Ham, who have lost just once in the Championship. Boss Allardyce said: "A three-game week is obviously an opportunity to look at other players."

Millwall manager Kenny Jackett says his side's struggles up front are causing problems in defence too.

A 3-0 defeat at Derby means Millwall go into tomorrow's match at Watford without a goal in seven games.

He said: "We are not scoring at one end and that is putting pressure on ourselves at the other."

Watford'S lack of a cutting edge saw them lose 1-0 to Nottingham Forest. Manager Sean Dyche said: "We were not clinical enough."

Crystal Palace right-back Nathaniel Clyne could make his first appearance of the season tomorrow for the visit to Brighton. Clyne broke his foot in pre-season and manager Dougie Freedman said: "Nathaniel is in contention to be in the squad. He has not lost a huge amount of fitness."

Charlton's Chris Powell is relishing his team's testing back-to-back away games. They go to MK Dons tomorrow and then face Shefield United on Saturday. The manager said: "They'll be tough games but we'll be ready."

Leyton Orient scored twice in the last five minutes to draw 2-2 at Huddersfield and manager Russell Slade said: "We deserved something out of the game."

Brentford midfielder Jonathan Douglas hailed manager Uwe Rosler after the 2-0 win at Oldham. Douglas said: "He is lively and a perfectionist."

AFC Wimbledon forward Christian Jolley cracked a 30-yard winner in a 2-1 victory at Bradford. Boss Terry Brown said: "It was a great goal."

Dagenham winger Damian Scannell felt hard done-by after the 2-1 loss at Northampton. He said: "We deserved at least a draw."

Barnet boss Lawrie Sanchez failed to shake up his team as they went down 4-0 at Swindon despite four changes from the XI who lost to Oxford.

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