SUB STORY FOR NASRI

Samir’s on bench

SAMIR NASRI looks set to start his West Ham career on the bench against Brighton tonight.

The former Manchester City star is eligible after signing on a shortterm deal after his doping ban ended but is unlikely to start.

Manuel Pellegrini looks certain to make changes from the side beaten 2-0 at Burnley, with Pedro Obiang set to come in for Mark Noble and Pablo Zabaleta fit again.

But midfielder Nasri, 31, has not played since November 2017 and will be eased in gently.

Boss Pellegrini is banking on the return of Zabaleta to shore up his defence.

The right-back has missed two matches and Michail Antonio has looked shaky as his stand-in.

Before Sunday’s defeat the Hammers had won five out of six and Pellegrini said: “When you lose, you want to play immediately.

“We need to recover immediately and add points. Playing Brighton will be difficult but I hope we see the team we have seen in the other games.”

Captain Noble is convinced his team-mates have the strength of character to bounce back.

He said: “We know we are a lot better than we looked at Burnley but we have to show it by bouncing back.

“We got beaten by Watford just before Christmas and we bounced back. We showed how good we can be by winning at Southampton. We’re going to put the Burnley game to bed. You’ve got to in this league. If you dwell on it then you end up getting beaten again.”

Meanwhile, Valencia target Javier Hernandez has been told he is going nowhere unless the Hammers sign a replacement.

Brighton boss Chris Hughton has just passed his fourth anniversary in charge of the Seagulls – not that he celebrated.

“There’s definitely no cake and I don’t think there’ll be dinner either,” he said.

“A four-year anniversary is not a particularly big one. Maybe five sounds a bit better – or even 10!”