Speaking after his side’s 1-0 win away at Southampton on Boxing Day, Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui confirmed that goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was conscious and talking having been stretchered off in the first half after a nasty coming together. 

As the Hammers shot stopper tried to punch away a corner kick, he and Southampton defender Nathan Wood came together. The collision left Fabianski on the ground appearing to be in a bad way.

Following several minutes of medical attention, the 39 year old was given oxygen and stretchered off the pitch. This saw French international Alphonse Areola come on to make his first appearance for West Ham since a 4-1 defeat away to Spurs back in October.

A goal from Club captain Jarrod Bowen just before the hour mark sealed a 1-0 win for Julen Lopetegui’s side. Speaking after the game, Lopetegui discussed Fabianski’s condition confirming that the 39 year old did not need to go to hospital.

“Fortunately the news is he is talking, he is alert, he is conscious. I spoke with him, the doctors say that he feels better and well. I am positive with him. He showed he more or less recovered his sense. I am not afraid. We feared but now he is better and it is a positive feeling because we were very worried.” said the Hammers boss.

It’s certainly a relief to hear that it sounds as though Fabianski is fine and well, many Hammers fans who will have watched the Southampton game would have feared the worst given the nature of the collision, the fact his injury caused a lengthy stoppage and he ultimately had to be substituted.

Whilst Alphonse Areola is a fine and very capable goalkeeper at his best, following a good campaign last season as the Club’s number one, the Frenchman made a very shaky and arguably quite poor start to the current season.

Since Fabianski took his place, the former Polish international has been excellent and has shown that at 39 years old he is still a top keeper more than capable of performing at a high level in the Premier League. It remains to be seen whether Fabianski will start tomorrow’s game against Liverpool in net and if he doesn’t, supporters will be hoping he can return to action quickly.