Lukasz Fabianski and Vladimir Coufal ruled out of West Ham United clash v Manchester United
West Ham will be without Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal and Danny Ings for their trip to face Manchester United in the FA Cup, David Moyes has confirmed.
The Hammers head into the game off the back of a 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, but will be without three first-team aces for the game at Old Trafford.
Goalkeeper Fabianski was forced off injured after a collision in that game, and Moyes says he may now need surgery while Coufal’s heel injury hasn’t cleared up yet and Ings is cup-tied.
“We’ve got a squad available and ready to go,” he said in his press conference, as quoted by Football.London (28 February).
“We’ve got a few injuries, Lukasz Fabianski has got a fractured cheekbone and eyesocket. We don’t know whether it will be operated on yet.
“Vladimir Coufal has got a heel injury, I think that’s really the two injuries we have from the weekend. Danny Ings is cup tied.”
Opportunity
It would normally be seen as a big blow for a team to have regular starters unavailable for a tough cup game, but this could work out well for West Ham.
There have been calls for Alphonse Areola to come in for Fabianski for a while now with the team struggling, and now he will have a chance to stake a claim for a regular starting spot with a string of games in the side.
As for Coufal, his form has been hot and cold for the best part of 18 months and once again this is now a chance for Ben Johnson to cement himself as a regular starter at right-back, his preferred position.
With Ings being unavailable, he gets to rest before the weekend but there is a chance for Moyes to hand Gianluca Scamacca some much-needed minutes after his recent injury troubles while Michail Antonio is also pushing for a starting spot after his goal off the bench last time out.