David Sullivan hopes Crystal Palace defender James Tomkins gets ‘great reception’ from West Ham fans

The Eagles welcome Slaven Bilic’s misfiring West Ham to Selhurst Park on Saturday in what will be the first time Tomkins takes on his former side.

Tomkins, 27, spent almost 20 years at West Ham as a youth and first-team player and notched up over 200 appearances for the club.

Despite his affinity with the Hammers, West Ham sold Tomkins to London rivals Palace in July for a fee in the region of £10m.

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Sullivan told the official West Ham website: “This will be the first time that we will be facing James since he left the club during the summer.

“James was a great servant to West Ham United and made a lot of friends during his long spell at the Hammers.

“I hope that James will get a great reception as he was always very loyal to the club and only left to pursue regular first-team football.”

West Ham are in desperate need of a win after five defeats from seven games has left Bilic’s side in the relegation zone.

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Palace, meanwhile, are unbeaten since August 20 and have won three of their last four games.

West Ham co-owner Sullivan insists it is imperative the east London outfit take something away from their clash at Palace.

The 67-year-old said: “We all know the importance of the game against Crystal Palace and it is going to be another tough encounter.

“Palace have started the season really well, but we have to get something, and I expect us to get something from the game.

“We had a great result at Selhurst Park last season when we came away with a 3-1 victory and it would be great if we could get a similar result this time around.”

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