West Ham United Head Coach Graham Potter has revealed that Lucas Paquetá and Vladimír Coufal could be set for returns in Monday night's Premier League meeting with Newcastle United.
The pair have been absent for the past two and three matches respectively with ankle and hamstring issues, but have resumed training with the first-team squad at Rush Green this week and are nearing readiness for a return to the pitch.
The Irons will aim for a third successive victory and clean sheet when we host the Magpies at London Stadium, having defeated Arsenal and Leicester City in recent weeks, so Potter is delighted to have his options boosted as he looks to continue that fine run of form.
The boss was handed further encouragement this week as striker Niclas Füllkrug continues his road to recovery from a hamstring injury by joining his teammates on the grass.
It all made for a positive team news update when Potter faced the media in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
“Lucas Paquetá has trained this week, as has Vladimír Coufal,” he confirmed. “Obviously we’ve got a few more days to go until the game, but if they react well we’ve got a chance they’ll be involved in the game.
“Lucas has been disappointed because he’s missed a couple of games with his injury, but he’s worked really hard to get back on the pitch.
“He’s done that well and he’s trained well this week. He’s done everything he’s needed to do in terms of rehab and now he’s back available, so that’s really good news for us.
“Niclas Füllkrug has trained with the team, It’s still early in terms of his involvement but it’s positive signs for us that he’s training with the team and now it’s a case of building him up.
“Apart from that there are no problems from the previous match.”
West Ham will be without Michail Antonio (car accident) and Crysencio Summerville (hamstring) on Monday, while Newcastle have lost Sven Botman (knee), Lewis Hall (foot) and Anthony Gordon (suspension).
