David Moyes was keeping his cards close to his chest when asked to confirm his West Ham United team news ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League fixture with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The manager was asked about the fitness of centre-backs Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd, who missed Thursday’s 2-0 win at Arsenal, and the status Lucas Paquetá, who was replaced after half-an-hour at Emirates Stadium after initially suffering an injury in the pre-match warm-up.
“Obviously, like every club in the Premier League, I think everybody has got lots of injuries or illnesses at the moment,” Moyes told Sky Sports during his pre-match press conference, “We’ve had it with Nayef Aguerd with illness and Kurt Zouma rocked his knee a little bit and obviously we lost Paquetá during the [Arsenal] game but at the moment it’s too early to assess any of them or give any answer.
“It was at the start of the game, Paqueta had done it in the warm-up and it was a decision that we gave him to start and we chose to do so. We’re not sure if it’s a ligament or something or if it’s too serious. We think it should be OK, but again we’re waiting on scans etcetera before we can clarify what it is. I have no idea yet [if he will be fit to face Brighton].
“They’re the ones and hopefully they have got a chance. Obviously, it’s a difficult time of the year and we’ve got lots of games coming up thick and fast.”
Moyes was also quizzed about the availability of Ghanaian Mohammed Kudus and the Club’s three other African players, Moroccan Aguerd, Ivorian Maxwel Cornet and Algerian Saïd Benrahma, with the CAF African Cup of Nations set to kick-off in Ivory Coast on 13 January.
“I can’t give you an answer on that either, because we’ve got three or four players who are due to go to the African Nations and we’ve not had confirmation on any of them really on their join-up dates, which is incredibly strange that they’ve not come about. You’d have thought they would be ready by now and we’re still waiting on that.
“Mo is a really important player, as he would be to any team so we’re hoping there is a chance he could be [available to face Brighton].”
The manager was not asked for an update on the fitness of Michail Antonio, who has been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury while playing for Jamaica during the November international break.
