West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen has fractured bone in his foot – David Ornstein
Jarrod Bowen has got a fractured bone in his foot and is facing a ‘race against time’ to play for West Ham against Lyon in the Europa League quarter-final, according to David Ornstein.
Bowen has missed the last four Hammers games after limping off against Liverpool, but there was initially optimism that the injury wasn’t so bad and that he could be back sooner rather than later.
But according to The Athletic, the injury is worse than initially feared and scans have shown a fractured bone in his foot.
David Moyes will be keen to get his star man fit again for the crunch Europa League double header against Lyon after the international break.
But with a fracture usually taking between 6-8 weeks to fully recover, there is a big chance that Bowen won’t be available for the quarter-final clash which is a huge blow to the Hammers’ chances.
Massive blow
With defeat to Tottenham at the weekend all but ending their chances of finishing inside the top four this season, it’s all in on the Europa League now.
That means Moyes is likely to start prioritising the tournament when making team selections and taking risks, so Bowen will undoubtedly be given every opportunity to make an impact on the tie.
However it may come to a point where playing him is more detrimental than not, especially if he’s not fully recovered.
Bowen’s form this season has been excellent, and he was set to get his first England call-up this month before injury struck which shows just how important he has been.
But if he’s not firing at 100 per cent then the Hammers will be a man light essentially in some situations and that will not be good, even if Lyon are struggling themselves.
In other West Ham news, ‘Priority’ – BBC pundits send West Ham advice after 3-1 defeat v Tottenham