Nuno Espírito Santo will be without three injured players when West Ham United take on Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
The Head Coach confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Friday that Dinos Mavropanos, Ollie Scarles and Niclas Füllkrug will all miss the meeting with the Magpies.
However, Nuno is optimistic that Greece centre-back Mavropanos and Germany centre-forward Füllkrug will not be unavailable for extended periods, as both have resumed working on the pitch at Rush Green.
Mavropanos is recovering from a leg injury suffered during the home game with Brentford on 20 October, while Füllkrug has not featured since being substituted in the away match at Arsenal on 4 October.
Nuno also confirmed that Scarles has undergone successful surgery after suffering a broken collarbone in the away game at Leeds United on 24 October.
“Dinos has started his fitness programme now and had his first session on the grass, so I expect a couple of weeks more for him to be totally available,” the Head Coach explained.
“Oliver Scarles, of course, went to surgery yesterday (Thursday) and it went well. He’s going to be out for a while. He’s not totally stopped as he can do some type of conditioning [work].
“Niclas Füllkrug is out. I’m still not totally sure when he will be available. He started on the grass but not totally with the group, so we expect it’s going to be fast.”
It remains to be seen if Nuno will make changes to his starting XI for Sunday’s meeting with Eddie Howe’s side, with Mateus Fernandes scoring after coming on as a substitute at Leeds and Callum Wilson, Freddie Potts, Soungoutou Magassa and Kyle Walker-Peters all appearing off the bench at Elland Road.
