West Ham United begin their pre-season campaign with a friendly against Scottish Premiership side Dundee on Friday evening.
The Hammers will be coming up against opponents who posted an impressive 3-0 victory over League Two outfit Leyton Orient earlier this week.
Match preview
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In normal circumstances, West Ham fans would have expected a lucrative pre-season tour and several big-money additions on the back of securing Europa League football next season.
However, the Hammers have endured a quiet summer, preparing for five fixtures against British sides, and manager David Moyes biding his time in the transfer market.
There is no panic behind the scenes with more talented youngsters having arrived at the London Stadium, but Moyes will want to integrate any senior fresh faces as soon as possible.
The Scot will also want to ensure that West Ham build on the momentum from last season, having being provided with a relatively generous start to the campaign.
A home fixture with Leicester City and three showdowns with teams who finished in the bottom half of the standings lie in wait for the East Londoners.
Nevertheless, Moyes will first be focused on trying to overcome a Dundee side who have three wins, three clean sheets and 11 goals to their name in pre-season.
Forfar Athletic, Hamilton Academical and Orient have all being swept aside with minimal fuss, results which have only increased expectations ahead of their return to the top flight.
James McPake can only have been left impressed by the ruthlessness of his players, and he will sense an opportunity for that to continue at the Kilmac Stadium later this week.
Friday's encounter marks the end of Dundee's pre-season schedule ahead of four matches in the Scottish League Cup.
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Team News
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West Ham will be without a number of players, including Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, due to their participation at Euro 2020.
Vladimir Coufal and Andriy Yarmolenko are also unavailable for this fixture for the same reason, giving Moyes an opportunity to hand chances to some of his fringe players.
While taking the level of opposition into consideration, McPake may prefer to hand places to players who featured for less than 45 minutes three days ago.
Ryan Sweeney, Jordan McGhee, Shaun Byrne, Declan McDaid and Luke McGowan are all in contention for a recall to the Dundee XI.
Dundee possible starting lineup:
Legzdins; Elliott, Sweeney, McGhee, Kerr, Robertson, Byrne, Adam, P.McGowan, L.McGowan, Jakubiak
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Randolph; Fredericks, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Coventry, Noble, Lanzini; Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma
We say: Dundee 1-2 West Ham United
With Dundee having already gotten three matches under their belt, they should have every chance of earning a surprise victory on Friday night.
Nevertheless, we are backing West Ham's superior quality to shine through in a competitive fixture north of the border.
Darren Plant
