West Ham United are treating fit-again midfielder Julien Faubert with kid-gloves.

Hammers assistant manager Mervyn Day explained to WHUTV: "He has got really tight calves at the moment. He had 45 minutes in a reserve game, he said he felt was ready to be on the bench and he has come on two or three times now and had a bit of a start at it.

"You are always going to get little niggles when you have been out for a period of time, that is the thing we will be worried about with Craig Bellamy - it is not necessarily the injury, it is the other muscles that haven't been used in competitive games for such a period. The stress they are under is enormous, so we have got to take everything nice and steady - certainly with Julien, with Craig and eventually when Scotty (Parker) comes back - because they can put other parts of their body under massive stress."