Hart believes Forest spree spells trouble for Hammers

Paul Hart, the Nottingham Forest manager, is hoping his side can build on their heavy defeat of Wimbledon and spoil Alan Pardew's first game in charge of West Ham tonight.

Forest finally ended a five-game winless run in the Nationwide First Division with a 6-0 beating of Wimbledon at the City Ground on Saturday to launch themselves back into the promotion picture.

They will be determined to give Pardew a tough baptism at Upton Park, where the Hammers could only draw their previous two games against Norwich and Burnley.

Forest started the season in promising fashion but defeats to Crewe, Stoke and Preston, coupled with draws against Derby and Rotherham, had set the team back on its heels.

Hart hopes firing six past the Dons will kick-start Forest's season and that the players will start to show the quality that took them to the play-offs last season. He said: "I hope the win will provide us with the springboard we need to put more results together, we've had some disappointments of late but we have not been that far away from winning games.

"We went on a bad run, and there were various reasons for that, but these are tough young lads at this football club and they grasped the nettle. We were desperate for a win and even before the Wimbledon game I knew it was close."

Hart again expects to go into the game without Stephen McPhail and the central defender John Thompson, who both missed Saturday's match at the City Ground.

Thompson is certain to be absent as he serves the final game of a three-match suspension, while McPhail appears unlikely to recover from a hamstring injury.