The Football Association has set a date for early January to hear the charges brought against West Ham United and Millwall for the crowd trouble which marred their Carling Cup tie on 25 August, with each club intending to mount a robust defence, reports The Guardian. West Ham face four charges and Millwall have to contend with three, both clubs facing one apiece of racist abuse by their supporters - against the West Ham striker Carlton Cole and the Millwall forward Jason Price - during the game, which West Ham won 3-1 after extra time.

The clubs also face accusations that they failed to ensure their supporters refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour, and a failure to ensure the fans did not throw missiles. West Ham face a further charge of failing to ensure their supporters did not enter the field of play.

It is thought that each club feel they did as much as possible to ensure a match which was always likely to be a potential flashpoint went off without trouble. Part of their defence will involve proving the lengths they went to.