West Ham face anxious wait over a new knee injury suffered by Kurt Zouma after star defender was seen screaming in pain.
With Angelo Ogbonna out for the season and no new arrivals in January, Zouma’s importance to this West Ham side cannot be understated.
That was further underlined by the fact he was needed at the heart of defence for the entire 120 minutes of West Ham’s fortunate FA Cup win over Kidderminster Harriers.
So when the big French defender collapsed to the ground after treading on the ball, awkwardly twisting his knee in the process, West Ham hearts were in mouths.
BBC cameras zoomed in as Zouma was seen and heard screaming in pain on the deck.
West Ham’s £29m summer arrival has only just come back from a lengthy absence having injured a hamstring tendon connected to the back of his knee against his old club Chelsea earlier in the season (pictured below).
On that occasion Zouma played on for a time before succumbing to the injury.
West Ham face anxious wait over new Kurt Zouma injury after star defender was seen screaming in pain
After lengthy treatment and several concerned checks from teammates, Zouma played on with West Ham having no more substitutes.
That seemed a big risk but perhaps a necessary one with the game in the balance at 1-1.
Dion Dublin on co-commentary duty for BBC remarked that Zouma looked seriously injured.
And the West Ham star was seen gingerly hobbling around for the rest of the game and reluctant to receive the ball.
There has been no indication as yet whether Zouma has done any lasting damage. But fans – scarred by years of watching injuries derail promising seasons – are understandably fearing the worst.
If West Ham have any concerns – and given Zouma’s history of knee injuries – they may send him for a scan.
Either way we face an anxious wait to discover the extent of the injury.
We can only hope for some rare good news. But when Zouma played on and hobbled off last time against Chelsea (pictured above) that was not the case.
West Ham somehow managed to come from behind to win 2-1 in the cup clash against a side six divisions and 113 places below them in the football pyramid.
They say all that matters is being in the hat for the next round. And that is the big consolation for West Ham with the draw for round six set to take place tomorrow (Sunday) at around 11am.
But we just hope it has not come at a cost as David Moyes awaits news on the Zouma knock with bated breath.