Bruno Lage is set to make a late call on big Wolverhampton Wanderers star Max Kilman at West Ham who are boosted by an injury absence for the clash.
West Ham slipped down to sixth place in the Premier League table when Arsenal beat Wolves 2-1 in a catch-up game on Thursday night.
The Gunners leapfrogged West Ham and will have three games in hand. Wolves are also just two points behind Moyes’s side with a game in hand.
Arsenal’s games in hand are far from easy, though, as they face Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool.
West Ham know a win over Wolves could seriously reinvigorate their push for a European spot. Especially after fourth-placed Manchester United were held at home to Watford.
Conversely defeat would see Bruno Lage’s men go above the east Londoners.
A draw does neither West Ham nor Wolves any favours at this stage of the season.
West Ham will have to make do without right-back Vladimir Coufal after a hernia operation.
And Ukraine forward Andriy Yarmolenko has been given time off by David Moyes due to the invasion in his homeland.
Yesterday, Yarmolenko’s fellow Premier League Ukrainians Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitalii Mykolenko were named on the bench when Man City played Everton but were clearly emotionally distressed and neither played any part in the game.
Bruno Lage to make late call on big Wolves star Max Kilman as West Ham are boosted by injury absence
Now Lage is set to make a late call on big Wolves star Kilman for West Ham who are boosted by the injury absence of in-form full-back Nelson Semedo.
Kilman’s mother, Maria, is Ukrainian and the Wolves defender was contacted by Andriy Shevchenko over representing the country at last summer’s Euros.
And Lage says he will need to assess his defensive rock’s state of mind before deciding whether he will play at West Ham.
“I haven’t talked with him about that, but we know,” Lage said (Birmingham Mail).
“We have a lot of people to talk with Max. He was OK. We know what the emotional side can be, but we have people to take care of these situations and Wolves will help Max if he needs it.
“He was comfortable in the game (at Arsenal). For now, we need to wait and see how these things develop in the next days. I hope it finishes.
“The good wars are those we have here during the 90 minutes, and when it finishes we congratulate each other and go home, not the situation Ukraine is living in at the moment.”
Former Barcelona wingback Semedo has been one of Wolves’s star players this season. So his absence will be a huge boost for West Ham, and particularly Aaron Cresswell.
More West Ham news:
Antonio lifts lid on what he told Moyes in meeting over struggles.
Video confirms West Ham star is back in training to face Wolves after injury.
West Ham star speaks out after big injury blow.
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