Mid Wales

Image source, Getty Images

Wrexham midfielder Ben Sheaf's return to contention after injury could hardly have come at a better time.

The 28-year-old missed the whole of pre-season and has yet to feature this season because of a calf problem.

But Sheaf is back in Wrexham's squad for Friday night's Championship trip to leaders West Ham United – the club where he spent three years as a teenager.

"I used to ball boy a lot at Upton Park when I was a kid because I was at West Ham Academy as a youngster," Sheaf said.

"I enjoyed going and watching the games there at Upton Park.

"It was a great atmosphere and it's always a club I've looked out for."

Wrexham are set to play in front of their biggest ever crowd at the London Stadium, which has a capacity of 62,500.

"I've actually never played at the London Stadium. It'll be good to go there - big crowd in a big stadium," Sheaf added.

"These are the sort of crowds and nights that the club's been building towards over the last few years.

"Hopefully in the future that can be a regularity.

"We're all looking forward to it. They're a top side, so it'll be a tough challenge.

"But if we put our best foot forward we'll have a right chance of getting a result.

"It's nice to be back involved but I've only missed five, six games, so it's not the end of the world.

"There's a long, long season ahead. Hopefully I can contribute for the rest of the season."

It is 45 years since these two sides met in a league game while the last match of any kind came in the FA Cup in 1997 when third-tier Wrexham earned a home draw before shocking their Premier League opponents with a 1-0 victory in east London.

A win for West Ham in Friday's late kick-off (20:00 BST) will send them to the top of the Championship for at least a few hours.

• This will be just the fourth league season in which West Ham and Wrexham have faced, and first since 1980-81 in the second tier, when the Hammers drew 2-2 away and won 1-0 at home.

• Wrexham and West Ham last faced in any competition in the 1996-97 FA Cup third round, with the Red Dragons winning 1-0 in a replay after a 1-1 draw in the initial tie.

• West Ham have won each of their past three league games, last winning four in a row in November 2021 in the Premier League.

• Wrexham have drawn as many as four of their opening six games of a season for just the fourth time in their Football League history, after 1929-30, 1966-67, and 1978-79 (all also four).

• West Ham's Jarrod Bowen has created more chances than any other player in the Championship this season (18), also leading the way for expected assists (2.4) in the competition.

Image source, Getty Images

Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones, Swansea's Vitor Matos, Cesar Peixoto of Wolves and QPR head coach Julien Stephan have been nominated for August's Championship manager of the month award.

Jones led Charlton to the top of the table with three wins from their opening three games.

Swansea made an unbeaten start under Matos with their seven points including victories over Stoke City and Derby County.

In his first season in charge of Wolves, Cesar Peixoto also started with seven points from the first three games of the campaign as they seek an immediate return to the Premier League.

QPR have made an encouraging start to the new season and went through August unbeaten with Julien Stephan overseeing away wins at Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers.

The winner of the season's first award will be announced on Friday, 11 September.