There was a welcome sight at Chadwell Heath in the shape of Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.
The 28-year-old has been denied the opportunity to make his competitive West Ham United debut after suffering a thigh injury in August.
Hitzlsperger underwent surgery in Germany in October and had been recuperating in his homeland before returning to the Hammers' training ground this week.
Capped 52 times by his country, the former VfB Stuttgart star is determined to get back into action and aid the club's bid to climb the Barclays Premier League table.
"It's a tendon injury and I needed surgery," Hitzlsperger told WHUTV. "I spoke to several doctors and they all said the same - I needed surgery and it would take me four months to get back to playing. It got done in the middle of October so I should be back in the middle of February.
"There's not a lot you can do after this kind of surgery. The doctors told me to rest for the first four weeks as I was on crutches and couldn't really do much. I started to do conditioning work and to run a week ago.
"Now, the healing process is going well and I'm quite optimistic I'll be able to play in February. Things could obviously happen in between but I'm just hoping I will continue making the same progress over the next two months and I'll be back in February."
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