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Reid set to feature v Ireland

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West Ham United defender Winston Reid is set to feature for New Zealand against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday evening, according to FourFourTwo.

The magazine revealed on their website that the 31-year-old enforcer will return for the Kiwis when he captains them in the friendly in Dublin after his injury lay-off.

FourFourTwo report that Reid hasn’t been massively missed by New Zealand, as they haven’t played a competitive fixture for 525 days due to an intervening period from their football association.

Reid is yet to play a game for the senior Hammers’ side since his injury but did feature for the under-23s in their recent game against Wolfsburg.

OPINION

This will be a massive boost for West Ham should Reid return and complete 90 minutes twice over the international break. There will be question marks over whether or not the Hammers’ enforcer can feature in both friendlies in Europe, but the fact that he is being thrown straight into the action against Ireland as captain. Manuel Pellegrini will be keeping a close eye on Reid and his progress over the two-week break. The 31-year-old was edging ever-closer to a return to action in the Premier League by featuring for the under-23s, and his presence is starting to be sorely-missed. With the Hammers having not won since September, they could do with the experience of Reid in their defence moving forward, as, at times of need, you need another leader to hopefully guide you through the tough patch. Should Reid get through the two weeks, it would be no surprise to see him back in Pellegrini’s plans over Christmas.

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