West Ham boss Alan Pardew was faced with a mounting FA Cup final headache after injuries to two star men tarnished his side's win at doomed West Brom.

Matthew Etherington failed to make it past the warm-up with a groin problem while Dean Ashton limped off with a hamstring strain with the Cardiff showpiece just 12 days away.

Captain Nigel Reo-Coker struck a 41st-minute winner for the Hammers in a low-key tussle but the injury problems were the least Pardew needed with Hayden Mullins' suspension appeal having already failed.

Pardew had already erred on the side of caution with six changes from his side which lost at Liverpool, and no starting places for the likes of Anton Ferdinand, Marlon Harewood or Paul Konchesky.

And Etherington's mishap paved the way for Pardew to hand a full debut to 18-year-old youth team product Kyle Reid who impressed throughout his first Premiership appearance.

But it was the Baggies who started more brightly, perhaps spurred on by the white flags held up by a sizeable number of home fans intended to criticise their side's surrender to relegation.

It was not the ending required by boss Bryan Robson who would also have to put up with a small section of the home supporters calling for his head following the final whistle.

The home side forced a corner in the opening seconds before Zoltan Gera wriggled into the box and saw his shot blocked at close range by Shaun Newton.

Hammers defender Christian Dailly almost gifted the Baggies an eighth minute opener when he rolled the ball right into Kanu's path but the Nigerian screwed his shot over from the edge of the box.

The Hammers had their first effort in the 11th minute when Reo-Coker cut into the left side of the Baggies box but shot into the side-netting.

Reid came close from a free-kick but predictably the early stages proved a passive affair with one team doomed to their fate and the other clearly with their mind on other things.

Ashton's injury seemed to underline the precarious nature of tonight's clash for his team-mates who began to sit back more and allow the Baggies room to roam forward.

Nigel Quashie had the ball in the net in the 25th minute after a fine through-ball by Ellington but was ruled offside by an assistant after shooting under Shaka Hislop.

Nathan Ellington wasted the Baggies' best chance in the 31st minute after Kanu tricked his way into the Hammers box only for Ellington to stab the loose ball wide when he should have done better.

Elliott Ward headed just over for the Hammers in the 36th minute before Reo-Coker took advantage of the Baggies' failure to stop Bobby Zamora's wriggly run into the box with a right-foot shot low past Tomasz Kuszczak.

The Baggies showed some desire to get back on level terms early in the second half with Curtis Davies narrowly failing to reach Jonathan Greening's dangerous free-kick in front of goal.

Ellington sprang the Hammers offside trap in the 53rd minute to dart towards goal only to scoop his eventual shot straight into the arms of a grateful Hislop.

Hammers defender Danny Gabbidon responded with a powerful long-range effort from the right which sailed straight to Kuszczak as the visitors once again threatened the wobbly home rearguard.

Ellington came closer in the 58th minute when he was sent clear on the left by Kanu before cutting inside and unleashing a rising effort just over Hislop's bar.

Kanu had two half-hearted penalty appeals turned down after falling in the box around the 65th minute as the Baggies admirably pressed on with their mission to salvage some pride.

They came closest in the 80th minute when Greening crossed from the left only for Ellington to direct his powerful header inches wide from the edge of the six-yard box.

Substitute Harewood almost had the last say with a fierce injury-time drive which Albion 'keeper Kuszczak did well to acrobatically tip away to his left.

Teams

West Brom Kuszczak, Albrechtsen, Watson, Curtis Davies,Robinson, Greening, Wallwork, Quashie, Gera, Ellington, Kanu.

Subs Not Used: Hoult, Martinez, Carter, Nicholson, Inamoto.

West Ham Hislop, Dailly (Konchesky 73), Gabbidon, Fletcher,Scaloni, Newton, Reo-Coker, Ward, Reid, Ashton (Sheringham 23),Zamora (Harewood 71).

Subs Not Used: Walker, Katan.

Goals: Reo-Coker 42.

Att: 24,462

Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire).