£21m West Ham star axed from squad due to little known rule

Parker dropped £21m striker Pablo from the squad due to EFL home-grown player rules requiring seven in the matchday squad.

Scott Parker enjoyed a thrilling start as West Ham manager, overseeing a stunning 3-3 comeback draw at Cardiff City after his side trailed 3-0 at half-time. The new boss made five changes to the team that lost 3-1 to West Brom, most notably dropping £21m striker Pablo entirely from the matchday squad despite him travelling to Wales.

The decision was born out of necessity: EFL regulations require seven home-grown players in the matchday squad. With Kyle Walker-Peters injured and Konstantinos Mavropanos returning, West Ham had exactly seven eligible players (Max Kilman, Divine Mukasa, Jarrod Bowen, Oliver Scarles, Lewis Orford, Airidas Golambekis and Ezra Mayers), leaving no room for Pablo or Maxwell Cornet. Portuguese forward Pablo has struggled since arriving from Gil Vicente in January, scoring just twice in 28 appearances.

Taty Castellanos replaced Pablo in the starting XI. After going 3-0 down through Jack Moylan's hat-trick, West Ham mounted an extraordinary second-half fightback with goals from Mukasa, Engels and Kilman to earn a point. The result keeps West Ham eighth in the Championship, in the final play-off place.