David Moyes says West Ham are “worried” that the injury suffered by midfielder Lucas Paqueta in Saturday’s draw with Chelsea may be similar to the one which left him sidelined earlier in the season.
Paqueta missed three Premier League matches in October after hurting his collarbone and was briefly a doubt to recover in time to make Brazil’s World Cup squad.
He scored only his second Hammers goal in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle but lasted less than a quarter-of-an-hour against Chelsea, having fallen awkwardly in the opening exchanges and then tried to carry on in vain.
“Losing Paqueta was a blow but we don’t know the answer yet,” Moyes said. “I don’t know, I haven’t asked the medical team but obviously, it’s a shoulder injury. I don’t know if he’s popped his shoulder or if it’s just the way he feels, I’ve not got the answer to that yet.”
Asked whether it could be similar to Paqueta’s previous injury, he added: “That’s exactly right, that’s what we’re worried about. I’ve not had a chance to talk to the medical team to see what they are saying about it.”
West Ham suffered a further injury scare when Nayef Aguerd, outstanding at centre-back since the World Cup, was forced off late on, while Moyes revealed Declan Rice had played despite struggling with a virus.
“Aguerd had a bit of groin [issue],” Moyes said. “The big thing for us is that Declan Rice played with a virus today and you can probably see that he was the way he was because of a virus and it had a big effect on us.”
