West Ham United Head Coach Julen Lopetegui says he will monitor the fitness of defender Jean-Clair Todibo ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League trip to Leicester City.
The No25 sustained an injury in the latter stages of the 5-2 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday, and with the Hammers facing a quick turnaround for their visit to the Foxes, Lopetegui says he will find out his squad’s injury status on Monday afternoon ahead of the clash at King Power Stadium.
Elsewhere, forward Niclas Füllkrug is making positive strides on his road to recovery from injury, and could be available again when we face Wolverhampton Wanderers on 9 December.
The German international, who has made four appearances in Claret and Blue so far following his switch from Borussia Dortmund, has been absent from the Hammers’ last ten Premier League games since he suffered an injury in his calf and Achilles area while on international duty in September.
However, Mohammed Kudus is ready to start against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team, having served his extended five-match ban for the red card he received at Tottenham Hotspur in October.
“We had a little problem with [Jean-Clair] Todibo in the last match,” Lopetegui said in Monday’s pre-match press conference.
“He started having the problem in Newcastle. And he has that same problem. I think it’s not very [severe], but let’s see. We don’t know exactly if he’s going to be available or not.
“[Niclas Füllkrug] is improving and is very close. Tomorrow is going to be difficult to [play]. But hopefully in the next matches he’s going to be available.
“For sure, [he will not be] in his best fitness, because he has to recover all this fitness — three months is a lot of time without matches. But fortunately he’s on the end of his recovery time.
“Let’s see what’s going to happen with [Mohammed Kudus]. We’re not going to talk about the line-up.
“It’s true that he’s now available after being out for a long time, too. He’s ready, working well and happy to be back, which is good news for us because we have a lot of upcoming matches in a row, and it’s a good thing we have as many options as possible for these games.”
