Bilic: Sakho will face Leicester

West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic admits he seriously considered signing Joey Barton this week.

“For me, it is very important to use as many homegrown or young players as possible, without detracting from team performances”.

“(West Ham manager) Slaven Bilic has really good experience of the national team, he knows West Ham well.

Leicester travel looking to build on their winning start to the season, after beginning the campaign with a 4-2 home victory over Sunderland.

If West Ham start their last Premier League season at Upton Park before the 2017 move to the Olympic Stadium slowly, expect the supporters to turn on Bilic as emphatically as they did on Allardyce.

He led his side’s counter-attacks against Arsenal, completing four dribbles along with creating a further two chances. “We have to be prepared and stop them”.

As many as six of the visitors’ starting line-up have never appeared in the Barclays Premier League for West Ham – while defensive duo Doneil Henry and Kyle Knoyle and new signing Lanzini were making their club debuts.

And the Croatian was rewarded for his faith with an exceptional display by the youngster who helped nullify Arsenal’s star-studded engine room. I spoke with him. “I thought we need someone to sit in front of the defense who is cool and can be a third defender, but who can also play on the ball“.

Bilic also dismissed suggestions that West Ham had decided not to offer controversy-prone midfielder Joey Barton a contract due to protests against the move by the club’s fans.

West Ham striker Diafra Sakho has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of assault in Emerson Park. He was here every day.

“I have to protect the team”. And if I feel me and my staff, if I feel that someone is damaging it in a way, I have to react.

Losing manager Pearson on June 30 will have rocked the club as they looked to pick up where they left off toward the end of last season, having won seven and drawn one of their final nine games. In the second half, especially after the red card, we did much better and we controlled the game and the result is a good one for us.