West Ham United can confirm that Carlton Cole is due to have more tests on the groin injury suffered while on international duty with England.
The 25-year-old striker pulled up 20 minutes after coming on in the 15th minute of Saturday's friendly against Slovakia. Cole has been back at Chadwell Heath this week for treatment and will have a further scan to assess the extent of the problem. It is a blow for the forward who has scored eleven goals in 30 games this season - form which has led to two caps for his country
Meanwhile, with James Collins and Matthew Upson already showing their fitness with Wales and England respectively after missing the draw at Blackburn Rovers, there was positive news on Savio when he reported back to the training ground on Tuesday. He showed he has fully recovered from a minor knee injury suffered in the goalless home Premier League draw with West Bromwich Albion by coming through 87 minutes for the Germany Under-20 side.
The Uganda-born forward was part of the team that went down to a 2-0 friendly loss to a Switzerland Under-21 selection in Lugano on Saturday. The speedy 19-year-old played a full part in training ahead of Premier League visit of Sunderland to the Boleyn Ground. Also hoping to figure this Saturday is Kieron Dyer, who came through a reserve-team friendly with no ill-effects after his cameo last week at Blackburn.
Jack Collison is on target to return before the end of April from his kneecap problem while Danny Gabbidon and Dean Ashton are both making good progress in their respective rehabilitations - including stepping up their running programmes. Valon Behrami is doing light work on his long road back to fitness from a knee ligament injury.