Manchester United frontman Hernandez will be part of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad for Tuesday night's Carling Cup quarter-final in east London, and Barrera is hopeful the Hammers will keep his good friend quiet. Barrera, a £4million summer signing from Pumas, played alongside Hernandez at the 2007 Under-20 World Cup and the duo were both part of the Mexican squad out in South Africa, where they lost in the second round to Argentina. While £10million-man Hernandez hit the ground running with a goal on his United debut in the Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley, it has taken Barrera a little longer to get going. The 23-year-old has shown patches of form during his 14 appearances, and feels Hammers fans will soon see the best of him. "As every week goes by, I am settling in more to the team and life in London," Barrera said. "English football is a lot more physical than other leagues with plenty of strong challenges, and I have noticed a few more long balls up to the target-man with the ball in the air a bit more, but it is the kind of game I like and I love being a part of it. "There is a good atmosphere at the club and I like my team-mates a lot." Barrera is not surprised Hernandez, expected to be one of several changes made by Ferguson, has been a hit. "We first played alongside each other for the Under-20 national team when we were 18 or 19 years old," Barrera recalled. "He's a good guy, laid-back, but works hard, is very conscientious and is a good player as he has already shown. "I hope to do well in England and make an impact here for West Ham." While United may be targeting domestic and European success once more, the Irons have worries at the other end of the table, as they remain bottom despite Saturday's morale-lifting home win over Wigan. Barrera, though, feels Avram Grant's side are improving. "During the week, we had discussed what we had to do to be better to turn the corner," he said. "Mainly we have talked about concentrating more during the 90 minutes because those lapses in concentration had cost us some wins and we ended up drawing them instead. "In general the team has been playing well, but we just needed that focus until the last second of the game. "Of course, we will need to do this against United as they are a strong team." Grant is set to utilise all of his squad tonight, aiming to protect key men like Scott Parker, who has been troubled by a chest infection, against burnout. Defender Lars Jacobsen is cup-tied after playing for Blackburn in their second-round win over Norwich before his August move to the Hammers, but midfielder Kieron Dyer could return from a hamstring injury. However, the West Ham boss also knows the importance of the fixture, having reached the last eight with hard-fought victories at Sunderland and against Stoke. "Many of the players we have in the squad this season have had long-term injuries, so we have to manage them differently," Grant said. "We are doing all we can so they can play, sometime we succeed, sometimes not. "It is not very often that West Ham comes to a quarter-final of any competition, so we will try to win this game."
