Julen Lopetegui has spoken ahead of our London derby with Fulham this weekend with an unexpected return possibly on the cards.

Our Hammers travel to the west end of the capital on Saturday to face a well-drilled and organised Fulham side in the Premier League, who did the double over West Ham last season – and Lopetegui is under no illusions over how tough this will be.

“There are a lot of teams in London, and we are playing in London a lot at the moment,” the Hammers Head Coach told the press as reported by the clubs Official Website.

“We have to face each match with the same importance, and we have to be ready. We are focusing our minds 100 per cent on Fulham. They are a very balanced team, they have a clear style and a good coach, and it’s going to be a good test.

“There might be more history around certain games, but for me I’m more worried about playing a team that is strong and balanced. They beat us twice last season, and they have good players, so we’ll need to play well to get the result we want.”

Lopetegui though did drop a very interesting update surrounding Niclas Fullkrug, with the player expected to miss out, however the Spaniard admitted there is a chance he will in fact be available.

“He has a bit of a problem, which is a pity, but we’ll see later,” said Lopetegui. “I think tomorrow we’ll take the final decision about him.”

West Ham are also expected to introduce new signing Carlos Soler in some capacity in the game at Craven Cotttage, with Lopetegui saying he is expecting the Spain international to have a big impact on our season.

“He’s a great player and he can help us in different positions,” added the Head Coach. “He’s experienced despite still being a young player.

“We’ve worked with him for the last two weeks, and for sure he’s going to help us in the rest of the campaign.”