OPINION
West Ham winger Nathan Holland has received a huge boost as the reported timeframe for his return from injury gives him a fighting chance of making the EFL Cup clash with Tottenham.
The pacey 20-year-old starlet suffered an ankle injury last month was previously hoping to feature for the Hammers’ first-team against Macclesfield Town but was cruelly sidelined before the game.
This was revealed by Hammer insider ExWHUemployee on The West Ham Way podcast at the end of September.
“Nathan Holland, disappointingly, was hoping to play against Macclesfield but he’s been out for a while with I think it’s his hamstring,” ExWHUemployee said on The West Ham Way podcast.
“He’s still got another two weeks or so to go.”
Holland clearly had a decent chance of featuring in that clash as the speed demon does have a place reserved in the dressing room (Source: Claret & Hugh) and it’s likely Manuel Pellegrini will continue to use the League Cup to hand out chances to some of the rarely-seen members of his squad.
The Hammers’ next EFL Cup clash is with Spurs on October 31st and following a recent update on Holland’s return, it seems he has timed his return to perfection.
Claret & Hugh reported that the 20-year-old was set to return to action for the U-23s against Swansea on October 22nd and that means he can prove his fitness in that clash before being part of the first-squad to take on Spurs eight days later.
Holland has only been out of action for a month so shouldn’t be too rusty and getting one game under his belt, means he can at least make a cameo appearance against Spurs.
If the youngster’s return was any later or the Hammers’ U-23s didn’t have a game in that week then it was likely that he would have not had any chance of featuring in the club’s next EFL outing.
However it is clear that he has received a boost by having timed his return to perfection so that he can show Pellegrini his talents against Spurs and perhaps stake his claim.
