Insider ExWHUemployee has revealed that West Ham United could have their three injured defenders fit for the Europa League final.
As things stand, the club are suffering from a little bit of bad luck – to put it lightly – with regard to their current defensive options.
Indeed, Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop are all out with fitness issues. This means Craig Dawson is the only experienced centre-back option available at the club right now.
Worryingly, this crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Hammers, either. Indeed, they will soon play Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final of the Europa League. However, if they can get through that tie, they could have their injured men back and ready for the final.
Will West Ham make the Europa League final?
Yes
No
Talking on The West Ham Way podcast, Ex stated that they’re all ‘ahead of schedule’, which gives them a fighting chance of featuring in Europe should West Ham progress into the last stage of the competition.
He said: “Diop may be ahead of schedule, Ogbonna is as well.
“Now what that actually means, I can’t put a timeframe on it, but hopefully, hopefully, you could have all three available for a final if we were to get there.
“It’s not definite, but they’re all ahead of schedule, particularly Zouma.”
TIF Thoughts on West Ham and their defence…
With the first leg of the semi-final set to take place later this week, David Moyes won’t be able to name a full-strength backline. This will make getting past Frankfurt all the more difficult.
But, as the final will take place in Seville on 18th May, those three mentioned players have a little more time to recover should their team make it that far.
By the sounds of it, Zouma is the one closest to making a return. With that in mind, perhaps he could be back in time to play a part in the second match against Frankfurt. If that was the case, West Ham would certainly have a much better chance of beating their German opponents.
No doubt, Ogbonna and Diop will also be pushing hard to get themselves fit as soon as possible. It seems like this fitness race could go right down to the wire for all three players.
In other news: ‘A disgrace’ – West Ham Fan TV presenter blasts one man after defeat