Glenn Roeder has warned captain Paolo di Canio he will not get his place back in the West Ham team as long as Les Ferdinand continues to perform the way he did in yesterday's 2-0 victory over Tottenham.
Di Canio missed the game at Upton Park with a stomach complaint and is now back in his native Italy to have a check-up on the knee which underwent surgery at the end of last year.
The 34-year-old striker has been told by Roeder that the club will not be offering him a new deal when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Roeder admitted he did not know whether or not Di Canio would be available for the next game, at Everton in a fortnight, but suggested he would not get his place back even if he declared himself fit.
"I wouldn't know," said Roeder, when asked if Di Canio would be available for the trip to Goodison Park.
"This trip back to Italy has been arranged for a long time. He is going back to see the surgeon who carried out the operation, to assess his knee and do some strengthening work while he is out there, then he is back next week.
"I don't think this is the time to talk about Paolo. I would rather talk about those players who played against Spurs. It was they who achieved the three points.
Ferdinand chose the perfect time to open his West Ham account, scoring his first goal since his move from Tottenham in January after being set up by Defoe after 31 minutes.
Michael Carrick added the second within two minutes of the start of the second half thanks to some dreadful Spurs defending.
PA