By Neal Collins
London
Benni McCarthy faced new competition for an English Premier League starting place on Saturday, but was on the bench for West Ham United when they took on Manchester United at Old Trafford.
McCarthy has been told to lose 1kg a week or face a club fine, with owner David Sullivan furious over the state of the South African striker.
But he now faces an extra obstacle with the Hammers signing Inter Milan's Victor Obinna on loan for the rest of the season.
McCarthy insists he is "training well" and "eating carbohydrates at the right time", but Sullivan maintains Bafana Bafana's top scorer "must stop eating cakes".
The 32-year-old Capetonian came on in the 77th minute in the defeat against Bolton Wanderers last week and made a late cameo appearance in the 1-0 League Cup win over Oxford earlier this week.
Avram Grant is suffering a baptism of fire at Upton Park with calls for his head already echoing around south London after a pointless start to their Premier League campaign.
Though he was anonymous when he came on against Bolton, McCarthy played a part in Scott Parker's much-needed winner against League Two Oxford.
Grant said afterwards he had been encouraged by McCarthy's performance and needed to decide how long he could be risked at United's 'Theatre of Dreams'.
Wayne Rooney was back after last week's mysterious virus and anything less than a resounding defeat would have been good news for grumpy Grant.
Grant may be cheered by Obinna's arrival on Friday afternoon. He passed a medical earlier this week before sealing his move, which has the option of a permanent transfer next year if he makes a good impression during his spell at Upton Park.
The 23-year-old, who spent last season on loan with Spanish side Malaga, will compete with Frederic Piquionne, Carlton Cole and McCarthy up front.
Obinna made two appearances for Nigeria at the World Cup, where the Super Eagles failed to get out of a group containing Argentina, South Korea and Greece. He joined Inter in 2008 after scoring 19 goals for Chievo Verona and helping them win promotion to Serie A.
But Obinna failed to impress in his spell at the San Siro, forcing him to go on loan in search of regular first-team action.