Gianluca Scamacca is set for a brief period on the sidelines due to injury as confirmed by David Moyes ahead of West Ham United’s fixture with Newcastle United on Wednesday evening.
The Italy striker was absent from the matchday squad as the Hammers stretched an unbeaten home run to six matches following a 1-0 win over Southampton on Sunday afternoon. He will now miss up to two weeks’ worth of action, with Moyes, as he did ahead of the fixture with Southampton, citing a knee problem.
And while Scamacca featured in Italy’s 2-1 defeat by England across the latest international window, the 24-year-old has not played for the Hammers since starting and scoring on 16 March, where the Hammers beat AEK Larnaca 4-0 to reach the UEFA Europa Conference League last eight.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Moyes confirmed that Scamacca would undertake a period of rehabilitation over the next two weeks, but that any surgery was unlikely as things stand.
“Gianluca Scamacca has two weeks of rehabilitation on his knee which is going to keep him out for a couple of weeks,” Moyes stated when asked about team news ahead of Wednesday’s fixture. “We don’t think he needs surgery, but we’ll see how the next two weeks go.”
Despite Scamacca’s set-back, the Hammers have seen the welcome return to fitness of Vladimír Coufal and Łukasz Fabiański over the past weeks, with the latter back in the starting XI on Sunday having missed the Irons’ five previous matches in all competitions.
Against Newcastle, Coufal is pushing for his first appearance since the Hammers’ 4-0 win over Forest. And with the likes of Maxwel Cornet, Michail Antonio, and Danny Ings all ready to go as well, competition for places is heating up ahead of a busy April schedule, as Moyes explained.
He stated: “I have got decisions in quite a few positions [ahead of Newcastle]. I really have. We have got a competition for places and I am hoping that the competition will add something for the players who start on the team.
“We will give you that jersey but you are not going to keep hold of it for too long if you are not coming up with the goods. Let’s hope we can keep that full squad fit and healthy if we can because we have really struggled with injuries in the first part of the season and people being out.”
