West Ham United have been handed a major injury boost ahead of their trip to Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend, with Thilo Kehrer set to return to the fold.
The Evening Standard reports that the German defender has passed a fitness test and is expected to be part of the squad that will travel to the south coast on Saturday.
Kehrer has been recovering from a minor back injury that kept him out of the resounding 3-1 victory over cross-city rivals Chelsea at the London Stadium last weekend.
The 26-year-old’s return from the treatment room will be highly welcomed by David Moyes, who will now have several options to choose from when setting up his defence at the weekend.
The Hammers are up against Roberto De Zerbi’s free-scoring Brighton side, who have scored eight goals and conceded just twice from their opening two games.
Moyes’ side were not famous for their defensive resilience last term, and it will take quite an effort and then some to keep Brighton at bay.
However, Kehrer’s return will help Moyes to potentially shake things up at the back as he can provide competition for Vladimir Coufal at right-back or slot into a back-three alongside Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd.
Moyes is set to welcome more defensive reinforcement soon, with West Ham expected to announce the signing of VfL Stuttgart centre-back Konstantinos Mavrpoanos.
It is anticipated that the Greek international will sign on the dotted line over the next 24 hours after passing his medical in East London over the weekend.
Mavropanos, who was at the London Stadium for the win over Chelsea, will become West Ham’s third signing of the Premier League transfer window, following midfielders James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez.
The Europa Conference League winners have kicked off their Premier League campaign with four points from their opening two games, and Moyes will ask for more of the same at the Amex Stadium next weekend.
