West Ham early team news v Tottenham: Graham Potter confirms player facing late fitness race
West Ham are preparing to face Tottenham in a return to Premier League action on Saturday.
West Ham beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 last time out in one of the shock results of the season so far, after such a poor start under Graham Potter.
The Hammers took all three points as Callum Wilson scored his first goal for West Ham after Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta both found the net at the City Ground.
Now, the Irons will be hoping for a similar display, this time at the London Stadium, as West Ham look set to welcome Tottenham and Thomas Frank.
With just two days remaining until the latest London derby clash, Potter has spoken out over the current state of his squad in E20.
Graham Potter shares team news ahead of Tottenham clash
It has to be said that if the East London outfit falls to defeat against the Lilywhites, it makes the Forest win almost obsolete.
If the performance level is to slip again, then the positivity surrounding the likes of West Ham summer signing Mateus Fernandes and Paqueta will fall away.
With that being said, the Hammers’ head coach will be keen to have a fully fit squad at his disposal after a patchy opening to the campaign.
This will especially be the case as fitness issues for new West Ham defender Igor Julio and others hang in the balance at the London Stadium.
Potter gave an update on the state of the squad at his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
He said: “We’ve got Niclas Fullkrug, who’s had a slight issue with his calf from international duty, so he came back early. He trained lightly today, but we’ll see how he reacts. Apart from that, everyone is ok.”
Niclas Fullkrug may miss West Ham vs Tottenham
After picking up an issue while away with his country, it is positive that he has come back early with a view to featuring against Spurs.
Against Forest, the game opened up somewhat once the German had gone off the pitch, but Potter would still want him available.
The former Borussia Dortmund man has excellent levels of experience and could prove to be an asset either from the start or off the bench.
It will certainly be interesting to see if he is declared fit in time for the derby clash, otherwise, it could represent a blow for the claret and blue outfit.
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