David Moyes has provided an update on the fitness of six West Ham United players ahead of Sunday's Premier League trip to Southampton.
The Hammers claimed their fourth successive victory across all competitions when they beat Anderlecht 2-1 at the London Stadium in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, a result which has secured their place in the knockout stages.
Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma, Thilo Kehrer and Maxwel Cornet were all absent against the Belgian outfit, while Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson were both withdrawn during the match due to minor injury issues.
Ogbonna was starting only his fifth game of the campaign following a spell of around nine months on the sidelines with a serious ACL injury, but the 34-year-old picked up a hamstring problem in the 23rd minute.
Meanwhile, Dawson – who came off the bench to replace Ogbonna – sustained a knock in the final 15 minutes and walked straight down the tunnel, with Moyes having to end the game with Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice and Emerson Palmieri in the back three due to the lack of central defenders at his disposal.
Speaking about both Ogbonna and Dawson after the game on Thursday, Moyes told BT Sport: "We just think [Ogbonna] had a tightening of his hamstring. He felt it a week ago when we were doing a bit of training. Hopefully it's not too bad.
"He recovered very quickly from the one he felt a few days ago and again he's somebody who's returning from a serious injury, at 34 years old it's not that easy to do. So we're pleased with how he's done but disappointed for him tonight.
"Daws had a bit of a dead leg anyway and I think he got another one right on it as well. So I'm hoping that he's fine. We took him off as a precaution more than anything else."
With West Ham's latest press conference taking place on Friday morning before first-team training, Moyes has stated that it is still too early to determine whether both Ogbonna or Dawson will be fit to feature this weekend.
"We're getting our bits and pieces together and getting ready to train, so it's early after the game and I don't have news on Angelo or Craig yet," the Scotsman told reporters.
Moyes has confirmed that Cornet will miss the trip to St Mary's as he continues to recover from a calf strain, but the Hammers boss has provided a positive update on the conditions of Antonio, Zouma and Kehrer.
Antonio and Zouma were both absent against Anderlecht due to illness, while Kehrer was rested as a precaution due to an unspecified issue.
"Antonio is a little bit better," Moyes said. "Kurt has got a little bit of the sniffles, so we will need to see how he is as well.
"Thilo was more of a precaution than anything. We expect him to be okay [for Southampton]. Maxwel has had a small calf strain, so we have got to be careful with him. Obviously, he's not available for the Southampton game."
Summer signing Nayef Aguerd is another player who remains out – the 26-year-old Moroccan defender is yet to make his competitive debut for the Hammers since joining from Rennes due to an ankle injury sustained in pre-season, but Moyes revealed before the win over Anderlecht that he has begun light training on the grass.
West Ham will be looking to climb into the top half of the Premier League when they face a Southampton side who have lost each of their last four top-flight matches. body check tags ::
