Roeder's West Ham plea

Glenn Roeder today urged West Ham to end the summer clear-out as Manchester City became the latest club to join the race for Trevor Sinclair.

The West Ham manager, having trimmed 10 players from last season's squad before the £6 million sale of Glen Johnson to Chelsea last week, knows that he is certain to lose more before the start of the Nationwide season on 9 August.

Sinclair, England's World Cup winger rated at around £2.5m, will be the next to go with Kevin Keegan's City now challenging Tottenham and Middlesbrough for his signature.

With the transfer deadline still five weeks away, Frederic Kanoute and Joe Cole could also attract the kind of money that West Ham need to compensate for the loss of revenue following relegation from the Premiership.

Roeder said today: "Of the 10 players that went at the end of the season five were first team squad regulars. Before the new season starts I could lose three more which would mean I'm eight first team players short.

"That is the cost of relegation from the Premiership and the reality is that at this moment I'm down to just 12 outfield players who have 10 or more first team games to their credit. You can't operate like that, especially in a 46-match season.

"I hope the board can finish selling to satisfy the club's financial requirements as quickly as possible. I need to know what I have to work with this season.

"If there is anything over and above what they need I hope we can invest that in new players. If we sell Sinclair and one other I think I will probably need to bring in six players to give us a squad that has a chance of promotion."

The decision to sell 18-year-old Johnson was taken purely because of the club's dire financial situation. Relegation from the Premiership is likely to cost West Ham between £15-20m.

The cuts in playing staff mean, for example, that Roeder's squad for tonight's pre-season friendly match at Bournemouth will be littered with youngsters such as Anton Ferdinand, Elliott Ward, Richard Garcia and Youssef Sofiane.

Roeder also made it clear that he has no intention of signing his old pal Paul Gascoigne, who has been invited to join West Ham's pre-season training programme.

"I'm just trying to help him keep fit," explained Roeder.