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Obinna
Nsofor will hope to lead his club, West Ham to a first cup final in 30
years as the Hammers try to save their season by making it to Wembley.
The Nigerian was shown a straight red card at Upton Park in the first
leg of the Carling Cup semi-finals. And the sending off almost
jeopardised the Hammers’ chances. He was sent off for lashing out at
Larsson behind play and that handed the initiative to the Blues but the
Hammers had the last laugh as they won the game 2-1.

Today, away to St.
Andrews, West Ham will be boosted by the fact that Nsofor is available
– he has served his suspension. The Nigerian striker, who was a force
when West Ham beat Manchester United 4-0 in November, seems to keep his
very best performances for cup games as he assisted three of the
Hammers’ goals that night.

Another player, who
has re-discovered some form of late is wing-back, Julien Faubert and he
believes that their performances in attack will be what will save the
season.

“It is a nice
semi-final and we have the chance to go to Wembley,” said the French
man, who impressed against Everton on Saturday, confirming the Hammers’
desire to get to the hallowed ground of English football.

“It will be a hard game away in Birmingham, but I think we can go there and do something.

“If we go there to
play football and try to score, I think we have a chance. If we try to
defend, we can concede a goal, so I think we have to go there and work
hard and then we’ll have every chance to win and go through.”

First leg

West Ham took a
first-half lead at Upton Park through Mark Noble, but Liam Ridgewell’s
reply followed by a straight red card to Victor Obinna almost turned
the tide in Birmingham’s favour with just over half an hour remaining.

However, a blunder
from Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster in the 78th minute gave the
Hammers an unlikely 2-1 win in the first leg. Foster failed to gather
Carlton Cole’s tame shot, thereby handing under-fire Avram Grant’s side
a valuable lead heading into today’s second leg.

Tricky tie

The game is
expected to be a tough one as Birmingham will be out to rebound quickly
from the 5-0 thrashing they received at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Under-pressure manager Alex McLeish said the squad will be focused on
today’s game. The Blues are also pining to make a first major cup final
in 10 years.

“As a team we don’t
like losing and so we’ll be hurting for a good few hours but we have to
dust ourselves down and focus on the game on Wednesday,” said McLeish,
speaking to Birmingham website.

It is also another
opportunity for the Midlands side to move on in the current season,
which has been poor compared to last season. “It’s a huge opportunity
for us. We will give it our all.”

2010 World Cup final referee Howard Webb will take charge of the match, which will be his 31st for the season.