Marek Stech gets chance as shaky Robert Green is given the night off

Jeepers keepers:Robert Green has struggled to put his World Cup nightmare behind him
11 April 2012

Robert Green, who has appeared low on confidence this season, will be rested by West Ham for tonight's Carling Cup third-round tie at Sunderland.

The England goalkeeper, who again looked shaky in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stoke having failed to recover from his World Cup nightmare, will be replaced by Czech Under-21 goalkeeper Marek Stech for the game tonight at the Stadium of Light.

However, he should return for Saturday's London derby at home to Tottenham in the Premier League.

Stech, who also played in the previous round against Oxford United, will be one of several changes by Avram Grant as he attempts to keep his squad fresh and ready for the more important challenge of Spurs.

The 20-year-old goalkeeper joined West Ham from Sparta Prague four years ago but had to wait until the Oxford tie last month to make his competitive senior debut.

Stech will be preferred to West Ham's Belgian goalkeeper Ruud Boffin, who will be on the substitutes' bench.

Grant is set to make one enforced change with Julien Faubert likely to replace the cup-tied Lars Jacobsen at right-back while the West Ham manager could also bring in Mexico international Pablo Barrera.

South African striker Benni McCarthy will also be in Grant's squad tonight and is eager to impress after shedding more than a stone in weight over the last few weeks.

"I feel extremely sharp and now I am just waiting for my turn," said McCarthy. "If a chance comes my way then I would like to grab it.

"We have two or three players fighting for the same position up front. It is good to give the manager a headache and make it hard to select a team.

"I am just training one hundred per cent every day and I have got myself to a good level. It is where I wanted to be and now it is up to me to maintain that and to give something extra."

It has been a difficult start this season for West Ham, who earned their first point in five Premier League matches at Stoke last Saturday and remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.

McCarthy, though, says the spirit within the squad remains upbeat and they are confident they can progress.

"Everybody is now a little bit more positive. We were playing good football but not getting the results," he said.

"Hopefully we can kick on from here and start turning our season around.

"The atmosphere is good. Nobody has dropped their heads because we have been playing some great football despite our position in the League. We have shown we can compete but the results have not been going our way.

"People tend to worry but we are positive."

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