West Ham have suffered another crushing injury blow with right-back Ryan Fredericks set for three months out with an ankle injury, according to club insiders Claret and Hugh.
The Hammers news site, which has extensive links within the London Stadium, report that the damage to Fredericks’ ankle has now been assessed, with the injury to sideline the 25-year-old for around 12 weeks.
A club source is quoted as saying: “It looked bad at the time and it has turned out that way. We expect Ryan to be out for approximately three months. We feel sorry for the lad and we as a club are getting no luck with injuries whatsoever at the moment.”
The Hammers have seen Winston Reid, Andy Carroll, Jack Wilshere, Carlos Sanchez, Manuel Lanzini, and Andriy Yarmolenko all suffer long-term injuries in recent times.
OPINION
This really is a big blow for the Hammers, who have had no luck with regards to injuries this season. Several squad members have been struck down by long-term injuries this season, and Fredericks is merely the latest in a long list of casualties. The right-back has himself not had the best season so far, with the former Fulham flyer failing to live up to expectations at the London Stadium. It was thought that Fredericks would be the man to occupy the right-back spot for the Irons this season and for many years to come, but Pablo Zabaleta has unfortunately outshone him completely in that position. It is Fredericks’ defensive work which is the issue, with the flyer caught out of position too often. Hopefully he can go away and work on his game during his time out and return a better player in three months time after this unfortunate blow.