West Ham have plenty of injury problems to contend with ahead of their Europa Conference League opener against FCSB tonight.
Full-backs Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell both missed Saturday’s defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and are not yet fit to return.
Gianluca Scamacca also sat out that match through illness and while the Italian forward has now returned to full training, it remains to be seen whether he is fit to start against the Romanian side.
Tomas Soucek picked up a foot injury against the Blues, while Craig Dawson is still working towards full fitness after the thigh strain that saw him miss much of pre-season.
“[Scamacca’s] only just started training so I’m going to work towards him getting back if we can,” manager David Moyes said on Wednesday.
“We hope we can get him back but he’s really not been well for ten days, so if he’s fully fit I’d be very surprised. But certainly he’s trained today and he’s getting closer to full fitness.
“Craig Dawson’s back out training. He’s not been out training long, he’s finding his way back in but he’s getting back in amongst it now. He’s probably not fit enough [to start].
“He’s missed the best part of six weeks of pre-season with the thigh strain. He’s making his way back. We’d like to get him back quickly if we can but I don’t know if I can get him back that quickly.
“Tomas Soucek had picked up a foot injury in the game against Chelsea, so Tomas could be a question mark for me.”
Meanwhile, Moyes hinted that midfielder Flynn Downes could be handed his first start since his summer arrival from Swansea, while the Scot also issued a positive update on Nayef Aguerd’s recovery from an ankle injury picked up in pre-season.
“I’m looking at Flynn with a chance, thinking this could be an opportunity to give him a game, to see how he does and give him a start,” Moyes added. “We’re looking at that closely, we’ve not completely got everything set but he’s certainly in my thoughts.
“[Aguerd] returned back on Tuesday. He’s now out of his boot, he’s fine. He’s actually seeing a specialist today to get his six-week go ahead as the next part of it [his rehab]. Hopefully, that’s all good, he looks good at the moment.”
West Ham predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson; Downes, Rice; Bowen, Lanzini, Cornet; Scamacca
