Live Commentary

Crucial time for Hammers Chairman David Gold believes West Ham are entering one of the most crucial periods of their 116-year history. The Hammers tackle Nottingham Forest in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday but then turn their attentions back to a fierce relegation dogfight. Gold regrets that the FA Cup has to play second fiddle to the Barclays Premier League - particularly given he owns the trophy used between 1898 and 1910 - but needs must. West Ham are bottom of the table and have just 14 games in which to preserve their top-flight status, a vital achievement given the club's debts and their plans to move into the Olympic Stadium. Gold revealed West Ham, having completed the signing of Senegal international Demba Ba, are trying to land Robbie Keane from Tottenham. Scott Parker and Matthew Upson have been linked with moves out of the club - to Tottenham and Arsenal respectively - but Gold insisted no players will be allowed to leave in the transfer window. And he backed under-fire manager Avram Grant as the man to guide West Ham out of the mire. "The next 14 games will be as important a 14 games as there have been in the history of the football club," Gold said. "Avram's job is to keep West Ham in the Premier League. That is what his whole life and endeavours will be focused on achieving. "Nobody can leave. You can see our situation. We would fight off any club pursuing our players. "Robbie Keane is a player we greatly admire. He is clearly available and quality players rarely are. "We see him as potential acquisition. We are looking at all players that are available from top-quality clubs." Gold insisted he never considered sacking Grant, whose position as manager has been under intense scrutiny since Christmas. Reports suggested that West Ham had lined up Martin O'Neill to replace Grant, only for the former Aston Villa boss to turn down the job. Speculation was rife that Grant would be sacked following a board meeting on January 12. The following Tuesday the board issued a vote of confidence in the manager. "There are people out there who are mischief making and that is all very sad. I can tell you now that we have a board that is fully behind Avram," Gold said. "There was all that furore over Avram when we had that board meeting. I can promise you, Avram's name did not even come up in the board room. "We have a major board meeting every two or three months and Avram's name did not come up in the meeting. I think that speaks volumes. He's our man." Forest have quietly come into the Championship promotion race on the back of only one defeat in the last 12 league matches and are fifth in the table, just one point behind second-placed Cardiff with a game in hand. The Reds came close to ending their 11-year absence from the top flight last season but were beaten in the play-offs by Blackpool. But boss Billy Davies does not see Sunday's trip to Upton Park as a chance to see how close his side are to becoming a Premier League club once again. "This is not a marking card for us, it is a simple cup game," said the Scot. "Many Championship sides have beaten Premier League opposition in the past. "This is not a barometer to see how far away we are from the Premier League. "I think we all know we are the underdogs but we want a positive result, we want to keep winning and we will pick a team to achieve that." Boss Billy Davies will make changes to give some players match action. Defenders Brendan Moloney and Kelvin Wilson, midfielder Radoslaw Majewski and forwards Dele Adebola and Garath McCleary will also come into the reckoning for recalls. Davies added: "We will pick a side that will be strong and one that we want to do well, but knowing that we are picking players to get some match time into them for the tough period ahead. "We want to continue doing well as winning football matches is a very good habit to get into." end