STRIKER Paul Kit son last night joined West Ham in a £2.3 million move from Newcastle. Kitson, 26, has joined on a three-and-a-half year contract.

Kevin Keegan brought the striker to Newcastle from Derby in September 1994 for a fee of £2.25 million, but he spent most of his time at St James' Park on the bench making only 26 first-team starts.

His transfer will go some way to solving Redknapp's striker crisis. He was previously frustrated in attempts to land Celtic's Dutch marksman Pierre van Hooydonk, Wimbledon's Dean Holdsworth and Stoke's Mike Sheron.

Injuries to Sheffield Wednesday's Dutch stars Regi Blinker and Orlando Trust full are not as serious as first feared. The players were taken to hospital after suffering knee injuries in a reserve match on Wednesday. But yesterday the club said both stars hope to be fit for the FA Cup tie at Bradford on February 16th. A decision is likely to be taken today on whether they can join the trip to Ireland, where Wednesday will play Shelbourne in Dublin on Monday evening.