West Ham United

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Wrexham midfielder Ben Sheaf's return to contention after injury could hardly have come at a better time.

The 28-year-old missed the whole of pre-season and has yet to feature this season because of a calf problem.

But Sheaf is back in Wrexham's squad for Friday night's Championship trip to second placed West Ham United – the club where he spent three years as a teenager.

"I used to ball boy a lot at Upton Park when I was a kid because I was at West Ham Academy as a youngster," Sheaf said.

"I enjoyed going and watching the games there at Upton Park.

"It was a great atmosphere and it's always a club I've looked out for."

Wrexham are set to play in front of their biggest ever crowd at the London Stadium, which has a capacity of 62,500.

"I've actually never played at the London Stadium. It'll be good to go there - big crowd in a big stadium," Sheaf added.

"These are the sort of crowds and nights that the club's been building towards over the last few years.

"Hopefully in the future that can be a regularity.

"We're all looking forward to it. They're a top side, so it'll be a tough challenge.

"But if we put our best foot forward we'll have a right chance of getting a result.

"It's nice to be back involved but I've only missed five, six games, so it's not the end of the world.

"There's a long, long season ahead. Hopefully I can contribute for the rest of the season."

It is 45 years since these two sides met in a league game while the last match of any kind came in the FA Cup in 1997 when third-tier Wrexham earned a home draw before shocking their Premier League opponents with a 1-0 victory in east London.

A win for West Ham in Friday's late kick-off (20:00 BST) will send them to the top of the Championship for at least a few hours.

• This will be just the fourth league season in which West Ham and Wrexham have faced, and first since 1980-81 in the second tier, when the Hammers drew 2-2 away and won 1-0 at home.

• Wrexham and West Ham last faced in any competition in the 1996-97 FA Cup third round, with the Red Dragons winning 1-0 in a replay after a 1-1 draw in the initial tie.

• West Ham have won each of their past three league games, last winning four in a row in November 2021 in the Premier League.

• Wrexham have drawn as many as four of their opening six games of a season for just the fourth time in their Football League history, after 1929-30, 1966-67, and 1978-79 (all also four).

• West Ham's Jarrod Bowen has created more chances than any other player in the Championship this season (18), also leading the way for expected assists (2.4) in the competition.

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West Ham might be topping the table but the pressure on boss Nuno Espirito Santo isn't going away just yet after an imperfect start to life in the Championship.

Fan Dean Matthews, though, thinks the club made the right call to keep the Portuguese head coach in the managerial seat.

"Externally the vision of West Ham is that they are going to walk the league but West Ham fans know better," Matthews told BBC Radio London.

"There has been so much change over the summer at West Ham and [adding] a shocking change to the manager to that wouldn't have helped anything.

"If we had changed, would we have got a better manager? I'm not convinced we would."

However, that doesn't mean Matthews isn't expecting big things from his club this season.

"You can't have players like Jarrod Bowen in the Championship and not get promoted," Matthews added. "It would be a failure if we didn't."

Listen to the full analysis below or on BBC Sounds here.

We asked for your thoughts after Tuesday's Championship match between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.

Here are some of your comments:

Bolton fans

Will: Schuey said it before the game, we've got to be clinical in both boxes. Doesn't matter how well you pass the ball if you leave players unmarked in the box. The second and third goals are really poor to concede.

Six-pointer on Saturday v Cardiff.

David: It was another good performance against a top side. Bowen was quality and without him we would have won but we need to keep working hard and we will win more than we will lose if we play like that every game.

This won't define our season, it's how we perform against the lesser sides which will do so. I'm confident we will stay up this season. West Ham got away with one tonight!

John: I have sympathy for Bazunu. He made some good saves but before the last goal there was a torrential downpour which must have made the ball like a bar of wet soap for the keeper.

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West Ham fans

Steve: I thought the performance was riddled with poor errors. Passing and tackling errors were commonplace. There were some good moves that were not capitalised on. I'm happy we won but we must be sharper all round.

Kevin: The midfield needs more bite. It's easily overrun putting pressure on the defence. We do stick to the task of winning the game.

Martin: Great result and top of the league (if only for a day). I don't understand why Nuno insists on playing Pablo as he has not made an impact in any game. He needs to go in January. But the rest of team are doing well, starting to gel and really positive.

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo spoke to BBC Radio London after the Hammers won 3-2 at Bolton to go top of the Championship. For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

West Ham United boss Nuno Espirito Santo spoke to BBC Radio London after the win against Derby County on Saturday.

For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

These two sides will meet in the league on Tuesday (20:00 BST) for the first time in 15 years.

Bolton are hoping to end a three-game losing streak while West Ham are seeking a first away win of the season after starting with two draws.

• Bolton have won each of their past seven league games against West Ham, all in the Premier League from 2008 to 2011.

• West Ham have lost each of their past eight league visits to Bolton since a 1-1 Premier League draw in February 1998, while their last away league win over the Trotters was in November 1995 (3-0).

• Bolton have lost two of their past three home league games (W1), having lost just one of their previous 23 at Toughsheet Community Stadium (W13 D9).

• West Ham have drawn both of their away games in the Championship this season, but have never drawn their first three on the road of any league campaign before.

• Last season, West Ham won each of their last four league games against newly -promoted sides by an aggregate score of 11-3. The Hammers have also won their past two against promoted teams in the Championship by an aggregate score of 8-0.

Both West Ham United and Derby County picked up their first wins of the season in the midweek and will be looking to back it up with another when they meet at the London Stadium on Saturday (15:00 BST).

West Ham took victory over fellow relegated side Wolves on Tuesday, while Derby overcame Portsmouth to see both rise into the midtable.

• This will be the first league meeting between West Ham and Derby County since the Rams won 2-1 in the Championship in December 2011.

• West Ham have only lost one of their last 16 home league games against Derby County (W7 D8), a 1-2 defeat in January 2005 under Alan Pardew.

• West Ham have won four of their last six home league matches (L2), more than their previous 20 beforehand (W3 D7 L10).

• Since the start of 2024-25, Derby are winless in all 12 of their Championship games against sides relegated from the Premier League the previous season (D4 L8), losing their last four in a row.

• West Ham's Divine Mukasa has been directly involved in seven goals in 12 Championship starts (4 goals, 3 assists), four more than any other teenager in 2026.

Aaron Paul and Jobi McAnuff are joined by Norwich City sporting director Ben Knapper in the latest episode of the 72+ podcast.

Knapper discusses how he spent deadline day in Stoke, juggling transfer business with a Championship matchday. He also reflects on the Canaries' start to their campaign and last season's decision to replace Liam Manning with current head coach Philippe Clement.

There's also a round up of the biggest deals from deadline day, first wins for West Ham and Leicester, and Charlton and Swansea's flying starts.

Plus, Bristol Rovers manager Steve Evans joins the panel to discuss his side's strong start to the season.

Listen to the full episode above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

We asked for your thoughts after Tuesday's Championship match between West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Here are some of your comments:

West Ham fans

Woody: The game was a lottery as both defences were poor, but we managed to score more. We need to massively improve in defence if we're going to get promoted.

Dave: At last a better team effort, moving the ball quicker, but the new players we need didn't arrive.

At times the back four were wanting and the real big problem is that we don't have enough cover - what happened to finding full-back cover?

All we can do now is hope this team can continue with winning, but I am really concerned.

Sue: Much-improved display. The players need to gel and then will be a good competitive team. Still starting slow. That needs addressing.

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves fans

Tristan: Didn't offer much at the back and were not clinical going forward at all. Played our hardest game of the season at a good time, and didn't make the most of it.

Steve: Overall I don't think we were that bad, certainly not 4-2 bad. We lost to yet another worldie, a daft, unnecessary penalty and a deflection, plus we hit the bar twice. It's a long season and it's going to be a rollercoaster - buckle up and stay positive.

Peter: Wolves will not be in the promotion stakes unless they tighten up their defence, which was cruelly exposed by the Hammers after looking suspect in the opening games. The retention of a focused Krejci and his return to the starting line-up could certainly help in that respect.

Image source, Getty Images

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo was pleased to get a first victory of the Championship season against former club Wolves.

Divine Mukasa's double, Jarrod Bowen's penalty and a Konstantinos Mavropanos strike secured a 4-2 win at the London Stadium.

After three games without a win, Nuno was relieved to get off the mark.

"It was a good game and a much-needed win," Nuno told BBC Radio London.

"I'm very happy for our fans.

"The players have been working really hard. We did what was important.

Pressure was beginning to build on the Hammers, but Nuno insists his team is still forming and it needs time.

"It is a totally different squad, the players need time to settle down.

"Some players joined us one week or two weeks ago without a pre-season or any of the ideas we want to implement were not there.

"Now they are chasing and we are trying to help them. I'm positive about what they are doing, their commitment gives me confidence."

BBC Radio London's Rob Green, Charlotte Richardson and Jamal Fyfield discuss the transfer business done by EFL clubs across the capital.

The show, which runs from 22:00-00:00 BST, will offer the latest updates and analysis for West Ham, Millwall, QPR, Charlton, Bromley, AFC Wimbledon, Leyton Orient and Barnet.

Listen to it here

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