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Brazilian striker Nene looks certain to be drafted into West Ham’s squad for next Saturday’s home London derby clash against Crystal Palace.
West Ham, already without Andy Carroll for the rest of the season following knee surgery, lost Carlton Cole with a hamstring injury in the 2-2 draw at Tottenham yesterday and now have just two fit strikers – Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho.
The 33-year-old Nene has signed a short-term deal for the rest of the season but is short of match fitness after leaving Qatari club Al Gharafa in January.
Nene scored 33 goals in 79 games for Paris Saint Germain between 2010-13 and West Ham manager Sam Allardyce said: "Nene would have probably featured anyway but he will definitely be involved now because we're down to the two strikers with Andy’s injury and Carlton’s hamstring problem."
Nene has generally played on the left during his career and has a reputation for scoring free-kicks from outside the box.
Player Ratings: Tottenham v West Ham
Allardyce, although generally praising his team, was critical of the way they again threw away an advantage, after going 2-0 up against Spurs.
"Our flaw since New Year is how many times we've been in the lead and how many times we've not seen that into a victory,” he said. “Had we taken advantage of the positions we were in we would be in around sixth position in the Premier League table.”
