West Ham injury watch: James Collins departs U23 game after only 20 minutes

West Ham have a chequered history with the injury table. As close as we were getting to a clean bill of health, it seems to be eluding us again.

Despite seemingly being on our way to clear health, West Ham have a number of players in the treatment room. There are still some long term injuries, and medium term ones, to return, but it does seem that we’ve not picked up any completely fresh ones in recent weeks.

Andre Ayew is likely to be fit after having to be dropped vs Watford and starting from the bench against Leicester due to an illness. The Ghanaian had been in good form for the Hammers before the illness and could well make his return to the first team against Everton.

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Michail Antonio has returned to training this week, but is very unlikely to face Everton. The winger will be keen to get involved over the busy Christmas period however. Another injury from the international break was Chicharito. The striker picked up a hamstring injury but will hopefully be back for the December fixture rush.

Longer Term Issues

However it is in defence that we seem to have longer issues and recurring injuries.

Fan favourite and Old Fashioned hero James Collins was set to be back in the space of the next games. He was even included in the U23 side for their check-a-trade trophy game. However he was dragged off early after seemingly hurting himself again.

Given it was only 20 or so minutes into the game, it can’t have been good. As such it means we are left with three centrebacks (Reid, Rice and Ogbonna) for a busy schedule. Fonte, as our other option, is also out.

Next: 3 ways for Hammers to beat Everton

The Portuguese international is out long term after surgery on a recurring issues. It was not great timing for the international who will want to be with his side at the World Cup. He was also starting to win over some of the Hammers’ fans who had been critical of his earlier performances.