Nuno Espírito Santo is expected to rotate his West Ham United squad for Monday night's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Brentford (7.30pm kick-off GMT, live on TNT Sports 1), explains Standard Sport's Sam Tabuteau.

The Bees travel to London Stadium seeking a fifth-ever FA Cup quarter-final appearance, and a first since the 1988/89 season.

In their way is a resurgent West Ham side who boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a 1-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage last time out.

How would you summarise the way the past four or five months have gone for West Ham, on the whole?

There has been a real, seismic change in their fortunes. Before the January window, over the Christmas period, it really seemed like they were down and out.

They lost at home to Nottingham Forest, which followed on from losing away to Wolves and, at that point, it really felt like they were in serious trouble.

But, since then, Nuno Espírito Santo has redressed the balance of the squad and he was backed with the signing of players he personally recommended and, ultimately, he has managed to get them playing some really, really effective football.

They are probably the form team in and around that relegation scrap, which now includes Forest, Tottenham and Burnley. Before the defeat to Liverpool on 28 February, they had lost just one game in eight in all competitions, which is quite a dramatic change in fortunes, so Nuno has to take a lot of credit for that.

What is the feeling like as to whether they can stay up, right now? Is there a sense they have picked up momentum at the right time?

I think there absolutely is a sense. They are now level on points with Forest, as I said, they are the form team among those competing to stay up this season.

Their issue is they have got a really tricky run of fixtures including Man City and Arsenal at home and Aston Villa and Newcastle away. It is definitely not a guarantee, but even in defeat to Liverpool, Nuno was quite positive about their performance.

They have got this newfound solidity at the back - Axel Disasi has been really important for them, Mads Hermansen has come back in as their first-choice goalkeeper, having been left out of the side.

Going forward, they have managed to keep Crysencio Summerville fit and he has found some good form, everyone knows how good Jarrod Bowen is and Taty Castellanos, who they signed in January, has just given them that figurehead they were missing in the first half of the season.

Now they have got that, they look like a really balanced team.

This is the first time the club has reached the FA Cup fifth round since 2022/23 and they have a chance to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015/16 in this game. How much of a priority is going deep in the competition?

I think it probably takes a backseat in terms of priorities, but with the momentum that can be built from a cup run, there is no harm in it. They will be able to rotate a little bit, too.

Nuno has spoken about the importance of the squad, rather than just the starting line-up, so if they can use the FA Cup and Monday’s game as an opportunity to play some of the players who are not getting quite as many games then that is no bad thing at all.

Someone like Adama Traoré, for example, is someone Nuno will be hoping to use a little bit more towards the end of the season.

Which player should Brentford be keeping an eye out for on Monday night?

The main ones everyone knows are Summerville and Bowen. They have just been absolutely excellent. But, in midfield, Mateus Fernandes has been really impressive.

I think people knew from his time at Southampton and how he played in what was a pretty poor Southampton team that there was quality there.

It has taken time, but now he is really finding his feet and he is a very central part of this ‘new’ West Ham that has begun to find some form.

What should Keith Andrews’ side expect in terms of shape and style?

They have a counter-attacking style, typically with a four-man defence and they will try to play into the wingers, try and attack quickly in transition.

They are modelled on the successes Nuno has had at Forest and Wolves in the past, so their ability to be able to get the ball to Summerville and Bowen out wide is important.

What’s your score prediction?

It depends on how both teams want to rotate, but I think Brentford are probably eyeing the FA Cup more than West Ham are and cup runs are something the fans have always hoped the club would take seriously.

I am going to go for a 1-0 Brentford win.