James Tomkins hopes his ankle problem will not rule him out of what he described today as a “massive” game at home to Hull on Wednesday.
Tomkins is having treatment on the injury, the result of a challenge from Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini on Saturday.
“I felt it was a poor tackle,” said the defender. “The referee could have booked him but I don’t want to dwell on that, we were just not good enough.
“The ankle is sore now but, hopefully, I’ll be okay by Wednesday.”
The 2-0 defeat was West Ham’s third loss in a row and they now face Hull, who are only two points above them in the table, before heading to Sunderland next Monday.
Tomkins added: “I thought against United we were a bit too predictable with the long ball but we gave it a go and nothing really fell for us in the box.
“We can’t dwell on this defeat, though. The results elsewhere went our way and Wednesday night is a massive game for us. Another two or three wins will do it and the next two games are going to be huge.”
United scored with a spectacular effort from Wayne Rooney from just inside the West Ham half but Sam Allardyce was adamant a free-kick should have been awarded for a foul on Tomkins (above). “I felt I was nudged for the first goal,” said the player.
Allardyce said: “If James Tomkins had fallen on the floor after being nudged, the referee would have given a free-kick. It doesn’t matter how slight the touch is, it was enough to stop him heading the ball and that makes it a free-kick.
“The assistant referee was not doing his job properly because he was just a few yards away.”
