West Ham have been boosted by the return of Lucas Paqueta, Jean-Clair Todibo and Edson Alvarez to training. All three could feature in Saturday’s home match against Brentford after missing out on the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on February 3. Alvarez has now recovered from a back injury which saw him miss that match, Standard Sport understands. Paqueta suffered a groin problem in the 1-1 draw at Aston Villa on January 26 and missed most of training for the following week, but he is now back and in contention to face Brentford in a boost to manager Graham Potter.
Todibo, meanwhile, has missed the Hammers’ last five games and recently spent time in France to undergo part of his rehab. But he has been back in London for a week and should be available to face the Bees on Saturday, barring another setback. Meanwhile, long-term absentees Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio are stepping up their recoveries with warm-weather training in Dubai. The German striker flew out to the Emirati city just under a week ago and has been partaking in light running. He is out with a hamstring injury and West Ham only expect him to be available for the final six weeks of the season.
Antonio, believed to be training in a separate facility, is out for the season and is in specialist rehab following the leg fracture he sustained in a car accident in early December. Evan Ferguson is in line to make his West Ham debut against Brentford. The Republic of Ireland international signed for Brighton on a six-month straight loan at the end of the winter window but could not feature in the squad against Chelsea because he had played in Brighton’s 7-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the same weekend.
