West Ham are hoping that Diafra Sakho will be fit enough to face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
The striker was taken off as a precautionary measure during last weekend's 4-3 home defeat by Bournemouth, but Slaven Bilic confirmed this morning that he expects the Senegal international to face the Reds this weekend."We are hoping he will be [fit]," Bilic told the media at his pre-match press conference this morning.
"He felt a stiffness in his abductors after Saturday's game, and he trained individually, but we expect him [to be ok] because it is not something major.
"We are expecting him to train with us tomorrow and then to be in the squad for the game on Saturday."
And when asked about Sakho's mental frame of mind following his two recent arrests by Police, Bilic replied: "I am concentrating more on his physical side.
" I've spoken to the player of course, and he looks alright. If he is fit physically he will be in the squad because we need players in his positions."
That is particularly good news for the Hammers boss as Enner Valencia, Mauro Zarate and Andy Carroll are all still unavailable (although KUMB understands that Carroll has a slim chance of making the bench on Saturday).
And despite the injury crisis up front, Bilic still believes he has a side good enough to compete with an unbeaten Liverpool side this weekend.
"We are going to have a really good team to go out there," he insisted. "In some positions we will have to hope that the players can last the 90 minutes.
"We are without Jenkinson but we are okay at the back and have enough players. In midfield we are alright but in the wide positions and upfront we are light and would like to have more.
"In the offensive part of our team we have a few injuries and have limited options. We have good news [re: their progress] but they will not be available for Saturday.
"Zarate is progressing well but he will not be ready for Saturday and Carroll is improving and doing very well too.
“I need to prepare the team and also be active in the transfer window. It is not an easy week but with a defeat like we had last week, we were gutted after the game. We have got over that and we have to bounce back."
* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.