CHRIS LAKEY Dean Ashton and Matthew Upson should both return to the West Ham side for tonight's Carrow Road friendly (7.45pm).

CHRIS LAKEY

Dean Ashton and Matthew Upson should both return to the West Ham side for tonight's Carrow Road friendly (7.45pm).

Both were rested for the Hammers' 3-1 friendly win at Southend on Saturday, but manager Alan Curbishley is keen for Ashton to improve his match sharpness.

The Hammers' pre-season began with a 2-0 victory over Dagenham & Redbridge, but they then failed to beat Lazio, Sigma Olomouc, MK Dons or Leyton Orient before the trip to Southend. New boy Freddie Ljungberg scored his first goal since joining the Hammers from Arsenal - and says there are more to come.

"It was nice to score my first goal and get the win," he said. "I thought we put in a good performance against Southend and it is starting to come together for the team.

"I am getting stronger each day and there is more to come from me.

"My first week has gone very well. We have some very good players and they're a great bunch of lads. I'm really looking forward to the season."

Upson - a former Diss High School pupil - will be hoping to begin repaying the faith which saw West Ham spend £6m on recruiting him last January. A calf injury on his debut means he has played just 39 minuets of football for West Ham.

"I'm feeling as good as I've ever felt, got back a belief in my fitness and can't wait to get into the matches," he said.

Tickets for tonight's game are on general sale, priced at £10 for adults, £6 for over-60s and students, £3 for under-16s and £1 for under-12s in the family and standard areas. For the Jarrold and City stands the prices are £12 adults, £7 60+ and students, £3 under-16s and under-12s.