Sunderland v West Ham

Kevin Phillips will put his England disappointment behind him to help get Sunderland's season back on track.

The 27-year-old striker was devastated to have to pull out of the national squad for Saturday's international in Paris with a shoulder injury as rival Michael Owen staked his claim for a starting berth.

But he is keeping his fingers crossed that he can prove his fitness to line up against West Ham at the Stadium of Light tonight. Phillips trained yesterday and provided he suffers no reaction in the build-up to the game he will be back in harness with strike partner Niall Quinn to face Harry Redknapp's side.

Manager Peter Reid could hand debuts to defenders Emerson Thome and Julio Arca, for whom he has laid out a total of £8 million this summer.

Brazilian Thome seems a certain starter after completing his £4.5 million move from Chelsea because Varga was ruled out for at least six weeks, while Argentinian teenager Arca has impressed in training.

But Austrian goalkeeper Jurgen Macho will continue to deputise for Dane Thomas Sorensen, who suffered a knee injury in the Arsenal game, and midfielders Stefan Schwarz and Gavin McCann remain longterm absentees.

Redknapp will be without Javier Margas and Frederic Kanoute with Steve Lomas struggling with a hamstring injury and Rio Ferdinand also out.

Ferdinand was the subject of a £15-million bid from Leeds at the end of last week and Redknapp has admitted that for the first time, he was sorely tempted to sell the England international.

"They really wanted to get him registered to play in the Champions League and to be honest it was not an easy decision when you look at this transfer situation," Redknapp said.