Journalist: No sign of Kurt Zouma in training ahead of West Ham v Frankfurt
West Ham defender Kurt Zouma didn’t train today ahead of their Europa League clash on Thursday against Eintracht Frankfurt.
According to The Atheltic journalist, Roshane Thomas, youngster Aji Alese has been training with the first team.
The Hammers will face the German giants in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final clash on Thursday evening.
Thomas wrote on Twitter: “Open training session at Rush Green. No sign of Kurt Zouma but Aji Alese training with the first team.”
Selection headache
The Hammers are missing several key players ahead of this crucial game.
The defence has been ravaged with injuries, with David Moyes missing at least three first-team defenders.
Zouma picked up an injury against Brentford in the 2-0 defeat, and since then he hasn’t kicked a ball. Although he is ahead of his schedule to return to action, the game on Thursday may have come too soon for him.
Similarly, Angelo Ogbonna is likely to be absent, although he has returned to light training. There’s no need to take risks with the veteran who has had surgery on his cruciate ligament.
Issa Diop is also out injured which makes the situation far from ideal for Moyes.
Alese is a fantastic young talent but throwing him in the semi-final will be a huge risk.
In such a scenario, Moyes should use the three-man defence system with Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell playing on either side of Dawson.
In other West Ham news, one key Irons star is still angry about what happened earlier in his career.
Be sure to follow West Ham Zone on Facebook for 24/7 updates on the Hammers plus more exclusive interviews with Frank McAvennie.