HAMMERS WAIT ON DUO

Ashton - fitness race.

West Ham hope to have striker Dean Ashton (calf) and midfielder Scott Parker (thigh) fit for Sunday's Barclays Premier League trip to Manchester City.

Defender Anton Ferdinand - a reported target for Sunderland - remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, as does Wales forward Craig Bellamy.

Kieron Dyer (broken leg), Jonathan Spector (hip), George McCartney (virus), Danny Gabbidon (stomach), James Tompkins (leg) and James Collins (knee) are still out.

New signing Vincent Kompany could make his debut for Manchester City provided the paperwork from his move is completed in time.

Kompany, who can play in defence or midfield, completed his move to Eastlands on Friday from Hamburg for an undisclosed fee.

Nedum Onuoha is ruled out of the home match for City as he has a knee injury while skipper Richard Dunne is again sidelined out through suspension. Manager Mark Hughes is short of options up front as Valeri Bojinov, Benjani and Darius Vassell are all injured while Jo has been on Olympic duty with Brazil.

Teams:

Man City (from): Hart, Corluka, Richards, Ben Haim, Ball, Garrido, Fernandes, Kompany, Hamann, Ireland, Johnson, Etuhu, Elano, Bianchi, Evans, Sturridge, Castillo, Schmeichel, Caicedo.

West Ham (from): Green, Behrami, Davenport, Upson, Neill, Faubert, Parker, Noble, Etherington, Ashton, Cole, Lastuvka, Reid, Bowyer, Spence, Boa Morte, Mullins, Sears.