Club captain Lucas Neill has been looking ahead to tonight's clash with the MLS AllStars in Toronto.
The 30-year-old Australian is in Canada with the rest of the 22-man squad in preparation for the prestige friendly, which kicks-off at midnight GMT.Talking about the match, he told reporters:
"We're close to 70/80 minutes of good footballing stamina. It's going to be a tough game for us, I think later on in the game we'll probably look a little bit jaded.
"But I think the adrenaline and the excitement that surrounds the game will keep us going. There's a lot at stake, trans-Atlantic pride.
"We've got some of our weapons back so we're excited now that we're going to have threats all over the field. We've got goalscorers, pace down the wings and we can defend quite well.
"If we can put all that blend together it's going to be en exciting season for West Ham."
Meanwhile, the opposition's most famous player - Leyton-born David Beckham, who nows plies his trade for LA Galaxy in the MLS - said that he was delighted to have the opportunity to play against United.
“It’s great, being an East End boy, playing against West Ham so many times for Manchester United and also scoring against West Ham - which didn’t go down well with a few friends,” he joked.
“They’ve got some good players. Of course, it’s great to play against good opposition and it will be a tough game. We’re looking forward to that. You always want to play against good players and good teams and we’re up against that.”
MLS manager for the day, ex-Liverpool star Steve Nicol added that despite its friendly status, his team would be going all out to beat the Hammers.
"This is a serious game," he said. "We want to do well, we want to show what MLS players are made of and we want to put on a good show."
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