OPINION
It feels like an eternity since Winston Reid last donned the claret and blue of West Ham, largely because it has been an eternity. The New Zealand international has been sidelined since March 2018 with a knee injury sustained in the most freakish of circumstances against Swansea City last year, and has been forced to watch from the treatment room for the best part of two years now. In that time, the Hammers have brought in the likes of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena, and there have been serious questions as to when, or if for that matter, Reid would ever make his comeback. We finally got out answer on Wednesday evening when he made an appearance for the Irons’ U23s, playing 64 minutes before being subbed off. For a player who has been out for so long, that reintroduction, as cautious as it may have been, has got to be deemed a success. The next step is regular first team football, of course, and the hope will be that with enough patience and care, Reid can recapture the form that saw him average a Whoscored rating of 7.18 back in 2016. For now though, the best thing Manuel Pellegrini can do is just take his time.
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