West Ham players and fans showed their support for Andriy Yarmolenko against Wolves on Sunday
(Picture: REUTERS)West Ham will allow Andriy Yarmolenko to make his own decision on whether he feels ready to return to the squad at Southampton tomorrow.
The Ukraine international was given time off last week following Russia's invasion of his home country, where the forward still has a number of family and friends.
Yarmolenko, a former captain of his country with more than 100 international caps, returned to West Ham's training ground yesterday as they prepare to face the Saints in the FA Cup tomorrow night.
Following talks with manager David Moyes and light training yesterday, a decision will be made on whether the 32-year-old feels mentally prepared to return to the squad, though there is no pressure from the coaching staff to do so.
"He came back in yesterday, I had a good chat with him," said Moyes. "He is really upset with the whole situation. We won’t rush him. I have asked him to come in today and see how he feels.
"If he feels fine, he will travel with the team. If he doesn’t we will give him more time off. It is a daily ongoing thing, things can change very quickly but we will give him a chance to go with his own feelings.
"He has lots of family and friends in Ukraine. He is worried for everyone. He realises the difficulty of what is going on. He is a long way away and can’t do anything about it."
West Ham begin a season-defining run of six games in 19 days across three competitions tomorrow. Despite failing to add to his squad in January, Moyes is confident his current crop have what it takes to compete.
"The squad I have at the moment has done a brilliant job in the last couple of years," said the Scot. "I've got no reason why I wouldn't think they can do a brilliant job in the coming three months."
