Scan to determine whether Ashton's Cup final is over
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Your support makes all the difference.The West Ham United striker Dean Ashton will find out today whether the hamstring injury he sustained in Monday's win at West Bromwich Albion will rule him out of the FA Cup final.
Ashton limped out of the match at the Hawthorns in the 23rd minute after falling awkwardly in a challenge with Curtis Davies and will have a scan to determine the extent of the injury.
There are growing fears the injury sustained by the Hammers' £7.25m record signing is worse than originally thought, and he may struggle to recover with the Cardiff final 12 days away.
Ashton's agent Darren Bossons said: "Dean does not feel it is a bad strain but with the Cup final coming up so quickly he is pretty concerned. He will rest the injury then have a scan at the club after which he will have a better handle on the extent of the injury. It goes without saying he'd be disappointed to miss the final."
Alan Pardew, the West Ham manager, will also learn the extent of the groin injury sustained by Matthew Etherington during the warm-up which stopped him taking part in the 1-0 win. Neither Anton Ferdinand nor James Collins travelled to the Black Country nursing back and groin injuries respectively, while Yossi Benayoun has also picked up a groin strain in training.
Pardew still hopes West Ham can confirm a top-10 Premiership finish with victory over Tottenham on Sunday. Pardew said: "We have been up there all year so to fall out of it right at the end because of the pressure of the Cup final would [be] disappointing. We have now almost secured that place in the top 10 but I know how important it is to our fans to put in a good performance against Tottenham."
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