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

Scott Parker’s decision to axe striker Pablo paid off as he masterminded a stunning comeback in his first match as West Ham manager. Just hours after being unveiled as the Hammers’ new boss , Parker enjoyed a thrilling return to the dugout as his side fought back from 3-0 down at half-time to draw 3-3 with Cardiff City. Replacing Nuno Espirito Santo following his sacking 24 hours earlier , Parker’s tenure got off to a quite unbelievable start in Wales. Things could hardly have begun worse when West Ham found themselves three goals down at the break after Jack Moylan’s hat-trick. But few could have expected the response Parker would get from his side after the interval, as they then mounted a stunning comeback. Divine Mukasa pulled a goal back on 58 minutes, and Arne Engels struck shortly after to make it 3-2 with 25 minutes remaining. As the game entered its final ten minutes, Max Kilman grabbed a thrilling equaliser to spark pandemonium in the away end. The late fightback saw Parker make an instant statement as Hammers boss, as his side avoided falling to a third straight defeat by snatching a point. Pablo axed due to EFL matchday rule The result came after some bold team selections, as Parker made five changes to the side that lost 3-1 to West Brom on Saturday. Most brutal of all was the decision to drop striker £21million man Pablo from the squad entirely after starting at the weekend. However, it was born out of necessity due to the EFL rules that require seven home-grown players in the matchday squad. An injury to Kyle Walker-Peters and Konstantinos Mavropanos’ return left Max Kilman, Divine Mukasa, Jarrod Bowen, Oliver Scarles, Lewis Orford, Airidas Golambekis and Ezra Mayers as the seven. It meant that Pablo and Maxwell Cornet were both left out of the matchday squad, despite both travelling to the Cardiff City Stadium. Portuguese Pablo has struggled since his arrival from Primeira Liga side Gil Vicente in January , finding the net just twice in 28 games. He failed to get off the mark in 14 Premier League appearances last season, as the Irons were relegated to the Championship . His absence meant Taty Castellanos took his place in the starting XI. This didn’t initially seem to have the desired effect, as West Ham found themselves up against it after going 3-0 down at Cardiff. But after pulling off a stunning second-half fightback, Parker was vindicated in his decision which helped snatch a point. West Ham remain eighth in the Championship – now the final Championship play-off place following the decision to expand. With six months of the season still left to play, Parker will now be looking to use his past experience to inspire his side to an automatic promotion push. The former Hammers midfielder was available as a free agent after leaving Burnley in April. Parker has won promotion out of the Championship three times in his managerial career with Fulham , Bournemouth and Burnley . As a player, the former England international spent four years with West Ham between 2007 and 2011. During that time, he made 129 appearances for the club, scoring 12 goals from midfield.