DEFENDER James Tomkins is confident his blossoming partnership at the back with Winston Reid can withstand a barrage from one of the Premier League’s most potent attacks this weekend.

Arsenal are the visitors to Upton Park on Saturday, and they bring with them an artillery that is second only to that of Manchester United, with 42 goals in 21 games so far this season.

However, Tomkins believes he and Kiwi Reid are starting to click in the latest defensive experiment, having kept a clean sheet against Barnsley in the team’s FA Cup third round victory at the weekend and conceded just once in the 2-1 win over Birmingham in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final clash in midweek. And they may get the chance to pair up again when against Arsenal.

“We played together on Saturday and we have done a couple of times for the reserves as well, so I know what Winston is all about,” said Tomkins.

“He is a good player, but he was in a similar situation to the one I was in, where he has not been playing much.

“But when he does come in and gets his chance, he is playing well. I certainly enjoyed playing with him (against Birmingham).

“I think he can play some good football as well, but he is strong in the tackle. He is a little bit like an old fashioned centre half, but I think he is a very good player.”

Midfielder Mark Noble knows the Hammers are up against it when Arsenal arrive, although he hopes the team will be lifted by their recent cup exploits.

“They are a fantastic side. Everyone admires the way they play but they are coming here. We have got a good few games running now,” said Noble, who scored in the win over the Blues on Tuesday.

“We have won here and we are looking forward to it. Arsenal is a lovely game to play in, they play fantastic football and you want to play against the best and they are one of the best.

“But if you look at 90 per cent of our games this year you wouldn’t think we would be struggling in the league. We have made mistakes, probably a bit of naivety and not taking chances as we should have, but hopefully we can change that. We will take confidence from the cup run and hopefully slowly climb the league.

“Obviously winning games gives you confidence. You score goals, you win games and you get confident.

“We had the FA Cup on Saturday and another against Birmingham. We need to keep pushing on.

“We have two hard league games and we need to do as best we can in them and hopefully go to Birmingham and put on another good performance (in the second leg).”