Nicky Maynard itching to make his West Ham debut against Southampton

West Ham will take a big step towards promotion to the Barclays Premier League if they can extend their lead at the top of the npower Championship to five points with a win over Southampton at Upton Park.

The Hammers have a game in hand over Saints after their match at Peterborough was postponed on Saturday - a situation that left manager Sam Allardyce and his new £2million striker highly frustrated.

Maynard had hoped to make his first appearance for West Ham at London Road after watching his first game since signing against Millwall from the bench.

The former Bristol City man is itching to don the famous claret and blue shirt for the first time and has promised Allardyce that he will deliver if given the nod for tonight's crucial game.

"The manager said he was bringing me in to score goals and that I'll get all the chances I need here," Maynard told West Ham's website.

"All I want is to get chances to score and I'm sure I'll take them when they come.

"Hopefully I'll be involved - the sooner the better for me because I can get to know the lads and get to play in front of the West Ham faithful."

Southampton new boy Billy Sharp, who scored for the first time for his new club at the weekend, is confident his team can topple the Londoners, however.

"It's a top-two clash and the pressure is on them. We can go there, be positive and try to bring the three points back," Sharp told Saints Player.

"Their fans will be expecting to win, but we believe we can go there and get the win to go above them."

Manager of the month Chris Hughton will be hoping his third-placed Birmingham side can keep up the pressure on the top two with a home win against Hull, who climbed back in to the play-off places with a 3-0 win over Bristol City at the weekend.

Cardiff, who are level on points with the Blues, are looking to bounce back from their disappointing defeat at Leicester with a home win over Peterborough while fifth-placed Blackpool travel to strugglers Doncaster.

With the league so tight at the moment, Reading, Brighton and Middlesbrough could all climb into the play-off places tomorrow night if they beat their respective opponents, Derby, Millwall and Nottingham Forest.

Meanwhile, Leeds caretaker manager Neil Redfearn will get another chance to persuade chairman Ken Bates that he deserves to take over the Elland Road hotseat on a permanent basis as the Yorkshire club visit rock-bottom Coventry.

Elsewhere, Watford will be looking to climb further towards the play-off places with a win over Leicester at Vicarage Road while the Hornets' London rivals Crystal Palace visit Bristol City.
In the league's other two games, Portsmouth host Ipswich and Barnsley travel to Burnley.