There is a chance West Ham vice-captain Tomas Soucek could return to the squad vs Millwall.
The Czech international has been out since he injured his ankle in his country’s 3-0 loss to Mexico in the World Cup group stage at the end of June.
This was the match the club seemed to be targeting for his return when he arrived back in England. Since then, we’ve heard nothing but good news on his recovery, with some reports saying he was ahead of schedule.
However, we haven’t seen him on the pitch yet, and we play Millwall tomorrow. Well, that’s a lie; Soucek was on the pitch on Tuesday night to place down a shirt in memory of his countryman and West Ham legend Ludek Miklosko, who sadly lost his life earlier this week.
Nuno Espírito Santo has been quite tight-lipped on whether he will return tomorrow. On the injuries ahead of the game, he said: “We have some issues, and Joel Veltman is among them. For sure he’s not going to be involved, but I won’t mention the other cases. Alphonse Areola and Tomas Soucek are getting better.”
If you hear the phrase ‘getting better,’ you would assume that means he is still recovering but is getting closer. However, Nuno can be a bit mysterious in his press conferences at times, so maybe he is back.
In all fairness, with the international break coming up, assuming he won’t get picked for Czechia because of his injury. Even if he is 90% fit for tomorrow, as crucial as this game is for us, it’s one game. We need Soucek back for the rest of the season more than we do for this one fixture, a gargantuan fixture, but at the end of the day it’s three points up for grabs.
It would be a huge boost for the team and the fanbase to see him back, even if he’s just on the bench. We’ll see what happens. Come on you Irons!
