Gianfranco Zola's injury worries are set to be eased somewhat by the return of Luis Jimenez.
Zola - who lost both Matthew Upson and Valon Behrami during the first half of Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Liverpool - has already seen his small squad stretched to its limits despite the Premier League campaign being just five games old.In addition to Dean Ashton - who appears to be no nearer to returning from a longstanding ankle problem - and Luis Boa Morte, the Hammers have also been without Jack Collison and new signing Luis Jimenez who has featured three times since joining United on loan from Inter.
However the Chilean winger - who has been out with a 'minor muscle issue' - is set to boost Zola's options for this weekend's trip to Manchester City by returning to action this week.
Also back in contention for the trip to the City of Manchester Stadium is Junior Stanislas, who, like Jimenez, was forced to sit our Saturday's clash with Liverpool. Both have an outside chance of featuring at Bolton in tomorrow night's Carling Cup clash.
Elsewhere the news regarding England centre half Matthew Upson is positive, with the Hammers captain reporting no further problems having been substituted as a precautionary measure early on during Saturday's game.
Valon Behrami, who was making his first start following a lengthy lay-off will however undergo further tests to ascertain the exact nature of his problem
Despite the injury worries Zola remains optimistic that he will soon have a full squad to choose from once again; talking to whufc.com, he said:
"I am looking forward to having a little bit of consistency so I can put my ideas a bit more. From now on, I know who I am working with. I can start shaping the team and am looking forward to that a little bit more."
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