Julen Lopetegui drops new Niclas Fullkrug injury update ahead of West Ham United clash v Everton

Julen Lopetegui has dropped a new Niclas Fullkrug injury update ahead of West Ham United's clash with Everton.

The Hammers welcome Sean Dyche's side to the London Stadium on Saturday (9 November) with the pressure mounting on Lopetegui after a miserable start to the Premier League campaign.

While the Irons will have to make do without the suspended Mohammed Kudus, they will also be without Fullkrug after Lopetegui confirmed the German international will be sidelined for a while longer yet.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (7 November) he said: "Fullkrug is out, he's not working with us so I think he is going to be out for a lot of time more unfortunately.

"I am not a doctor I don't know. He started with a little injury and step by step it's more complicated and it is true that now with the new treatment, he will be out for the next two or three weeks, but I don't know exactly."

What has happened to West Ham attacker Niclas Fullkrug at the London Stadium?

Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Lopetegui, the Hammers and Fullkrug at this moment in time.

The German striker arrived in East London with so much promise this summer having impressed both at the Euros and in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, but so far, he has failed to impress in claret and blue.

Tim Steidten and Lopetegui always ran this risk when they decided to spend big on a striker with a less-than-impressive injury record heading into the back end of his career, but no one could have expected Fullkrug's fitness woes to be this severe.

Lopetegui isn't blessed with loads of depth at the top end of the field and it will be interesting to see who he turns to against Everton. On the face of it, Michail Antonio is the obvious starter, but he could play Jarrod Bowen out of position as he did against Forest.

Whoever leads the line for West Ham, they need to find a way to win. If they don't, Lopetegui could well pay with his job.

In other West Ham news, the Hammers have pinpointed a Premier League forward as their new primary striker target

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