Insider ExWHUemployee has expressed his relief after reporting that West Ham United defender Vladimir Coufal isn’t seriously injured.
During the Hammers’ last Premier League match, the right-back had to be subbed off for Ben Johnson due to injury.
Naturally, this would have led to fears of a fitness setback for the Czech international, but Ex has been able to provide a positive update on the player amid concerns of a ‘serious injury’.
Indeed, while talking on The West Ham Way podcast, the insider explained that Coufal’s issue was related to a concussion and that means he should be back and ready to play this weekend against Aston Villa.
Ex said: “Now obviously, Coufal left the pitch [on Sunday]. It seemed like a serious injury, but apparently, although I haven’t had this 100% confirmed, apparently it was concussion. So he was actually knocked out.
“So it means that he is fine to play against Aston Villa. Because you have a six-day rule now with concussions, that if you have concussion in a match, can’t play for six [days] because you have to check that it is ok and no serious brain damage has been sustained.
“That does put him out of Thursday’s game, though. So it’ll be interesting to see what we do for that. But it does mean that he’ll be available for Aston Villa. So that’s a relief.”
Could Ben Johnson keep Vladimir Coufal out of the West Ham team?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Vladimir Coufal and West Ham…
Coufal has started in all four of West Ham’s games across all competitions so far this season, playing every minute up until his injury, so it’s clear how important he is to the team.
With that in mind and the fact that alternative right-back Johnson has had to fill in at centre-back this term, it certainly will be a relief for fans to hear the injury isn’t serious.
The Hammers have an important tie coming up against Viborg FF this week, and so it’s a shame he won’t be back for the European tie. But at the very least, it now seems as though Coufal will be ready to feature against Aston Villa, which will come as a big boost with David Moyes’ men still looking to pick up their first league points of the season.