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David Moyes issues injury update on Aaron Creswell, Ben Johnson and Ryan Fredericks
West Ham manager David Moyes hopes to have at least one of his injured full-backs available again for the game against Norwich City at the London Stadium on Saturday (18 December).
Aaron Cresswell, Ryan Fredericks and Ben Johnson have all been on the sidelines in recent games, leaving Moyes short of options in defence.
Vladimir Coufal’s red card in the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal yesterday (15 December) has worsened the situation and means that Arthur Masuaku is currently the only fit and available senior full-back in the squad.
In his post-match press conference after the loss at the Emirates Stadium, Moyes said:
“I am hoping that maybe Ryan or Ben or Cressie [Aaron Cresswell] can get themselves available for us.
“It would help us in a period where we have some injuries and it looks like all the full-backs in the main are the ones getting injured or sent off as it was the case tonight.”
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Freak circumstances
It is certainly a freak set of circumstances that has left West Ham worryingly short in the full-back position.
Fredericks has not featured since the opening day of the season so has not been a huge miss, but Cresswell and Johnson had established themselves as important parts of the team before picking up their injuries.
Cresswell is arguably the one Moyes will want available the most given how much he brings to the side in both defence and attack.
The 31-year-old has seemingly been on the verge of a return for the last couple of matches but not quite been ready.
However, with no senior right-back currently available for the Norwich fixture, getting Johnson or Fredericks back would also be very handy.
20-year-old Harrison Ashby made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Arsenal and was impressive in the Europa League against Sparta Prague so it would by no means be the end of the world if he was forced to start against the bottom of the table Canaries.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers want to sign a highly-rated and in-form striker January.
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