Did James Tomkins want to leave West Ham? It wasn’t quite like that, says Slaven Bilic

I expect a tough game at Crystal Palace tomorrow. It will be a physical challenge and, after an indifferent start, they have improved.

I also expect James Tomkins to line up against us and I know some supporters have said it was a mistake to let him go in the summer.

Did he want to leave? It wasn’t quite like that, it was more something in between, if you understand.

James is a great lad, bred at the club and he didn’t really want to go. He and I spoke about things last season, where he played in a few different positions and I rate him as a player. He wasn’t a whole season regular in the team, though. I want to say that he never made any problems but we had a few talks and I couldn’t guarantee he would play week in and week out.

He only wanted to leave the club for that reason — and no other.

Christian Benteke is another player who I would expect to be lining up for Palace tomorrow. He was linked with us, along with others during the summer, but there are reasons why so many possible deals fall through, including financial ones.