Hammers in familiar territory for latest test

Boss Moyes hopes that group-stage win in Black Forest will help settle his side tonight

- Malik Ouzia

HOW long does novelty last? For a new song, perhaps six or seven plays. For a child blagging a day off school sick, somewhere around lunchtime tends to be the mark. And if you have just bought one of those fancy, garden pizza ovens, probably until the first time you try to clean it.

For West Ham and their European adventure, however, it seems the bar is set at a lofty two-and-a-half years. For tonight, David Moyes's side go back to Black, returning to the fringes of the German forest to once again meet SC Freiburg, the first repeat opposition of their three successive continental tours.

For the 2,230 supporters who have braved the travel chaos soiling the German reputation for smooth running, there remains a sense of the new, October's group-stage meeting having been played without away fans, who were serving a one-match ban. With industrial action planned on planes and trains across the country today and tomorrow, the real fun and games may yet lie in getting home.