Graham Potter is hopeful of having Jarrod Bowen available for the first time since he was appointed Head Coach for West Ham United’s Premier League fixture at Chelsea on Monday evening.
The Club captain has been out of competitive action since suffering a fractured foot during the Hammers’ home match against Liverpool on 29 December, meaning he has not featured in any of Potter’s first four games in charge.
Now, though, speaking in his pre-match press conference at Rush Green on Thursday afternoon, Potter revealed that the England international has returned to full training and is looking likely to be back in the squad for the relatively short trip to Stamford Bridge.
“With Jarrod, we’re more positive,” Potter told the media. “He’s obviously got a few more days to train [ahead of Monday’s game], but it’s looking hopeful. He’s had more time [to recover], with the nature of the injury. He’s trained the last two days, and we’ve still got some more training sessions to go so, as I said, we’re hopeful for him.”
Another player Potter is hopeful of having available for the Sky Sports-televised clash at Chelsea is Lucas Paquetá, who has been recovering from a groin problem suffered near the end of Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.
“With Lucas, we’re just again monitoring and looking after him,” the Head Coach explained. “We’re hopeful that he can train at the back end of the week as well. Obviously, we’ll have to see. He hasn’t trained so far this week, but again, we’re hopeful that he will at the back end of the week.”
Bowen’s potential return will boost a West Ham squad that has been without a number of senior forwards during Potter’s short spell in charge to date, with Michail Antonio (car accident), Niclas Füllkrug (hamstring) and Crysencio Summerville (hamstring) all sidelined and the latter unlikely to be fit to face Enzo Maresca’s Blues.
“Füllkrug is a ‘no’ and Summerville is very doubtful and taking a bit longer than we anticipated,” Potter confirmed, when asked about the Dutch winger’s immediate availability.
Centre-back Dinos Mavropanos is available again after serving a one-match suspension at Villa Park, while fellow defender Jean-Clair Todibo has missed all four of Potter’s games as Head Coach through injury.
Monday’s starting XI and substitutes will be confirmed 75 minutes ahead of kick-off at Stamford Bridge at 6.45pm GMT on our Match Centre Live Blog and social media channels.
