West Ham United defender Winston Reid could return from injury this week, according to Claret and Hugh.
The club source claim that the experienced Hammer could feature in Friday’s under-23’s fixture against Middlesbrough, after returning to full training recently.
Claret and Hugh report that after being carefully nurtured due to an extended period on the sideline, the New Zealand international is “physically fine”.
The 31-year-old made a cameo appearance in pre-season but has not managed to feature in a competitive fixture for over a season after suffering a knee injury in March 2018.
Monday’s academy fixture against West Brom has been deemed as too soon for Reid to return to action for West Ham.
OPINION
Manuel Pellegrini will be delighted to see a senior player return to full fitness for his Hammers’ side, but the truth is, Reid can not be expecting to complete many minutes in the Premier League this season. The 31-year-old has been injured for so long, missing 484 days of action according to Transfermarkt, that the club has completed the signings of both Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop in that time. The New Zealander will bring great experience and knowledge into training over the course of this season, and will most likely be used as a mentor to the club’s more youthful options, with cup competitions his best chance of making an impact. Reid missed a total of 53 games and it will take more than one under-23’s game to get up to speed with the Premier League, so whilst this may be good news in terms of his recovery, there is still a long road back to the first-team for the experienced defender.
