West Ham United face FC Astra Giurgiu in the second leg of the Europa League third qualifying round tonight (7pm kick-off), looking for plainer sailing in Romania than in the last round.

The Hammers made heavy weather of reaching the penultimate qualifying round, requiring penalty kicks to get past Maltese side Birkirkara. Victory will see the east Londoners reach the play-off round, the final hurdle before the group stages of the competition.

Now the two sides go into the second leg level on aggregate at 2-2 after West Ham, who were dominating for up until the hour mark at Upton Park last week, dropped a two-goal lead following a James Collins red card.

This was the match’s seminal moment as the momentum swung completely in the opposition’s favour. Something Aaron Cresswell acknowledged this whilst talking to the club’s website: “We were dominant in the first half and well in control of the game at 2-0, but the game changed when James Collins got sent off.”

Having provided the Hammers with an uphill task tonight, the red card has also resulted in the suspension of one of their most experienced and relied upon centre backs as.

What made last Thursday’s encounter all the more catastrophic was the injury to Enner Valencia.

Initially, it was believed that the Ecuadorian forward would require surgery and miss a huge portion of the season, but the club’s head of medical and sports science confirmed earlier in the week he would actually be out for a period between ten to 12 weeks.

Even though his absence will be for a less significant period than originally expected, it has reduced the Hammers to just one first team striker – Diafra Sakho – as Andy Carroll has also been ruled out for an extended period.

And, just to make matters more problematic, West Ham will begin their Premier League campaign with a visit to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday – providing them with a hectic schedule and in turn a potentially tired squad before the season has even begun.

This has landed Hammers manager, Slaven Bilic, in a difficult position. It is anticipated the Croatian will name a second-string starting XI for tonight's all-important clash in Romania as he prioritises the trip to north London on Sunday.