West Ham United have avoided another injury setback before Saturday’s Championship meeting with Derby County, leaving Nuno Espírito Santo with increased competition for places after the transfer window closed.
The Hammers are preparing to return to London Stadium just four days after their 4-2 victory over Wolves, with no fresh injury problem reported from that win ahead of the Derby clash.
Tomáš Souček remains the notable absentee, but Deadline Day arrivals Morato and Adama Boiro have strengthened Nuno’s defensive options before the 3pm kick-off.
West Ham options increase before Derby
Nuno faced the media on Friday afternoon as preparations for Derby entered their final stage, with West Ham providing live coverage of his pre-match press conference.
That comes after a considerably more encouraging night against Wolves.
West Ham finally secured their first Championship victory of the campaign, with Divine Mukasa scoring twice in a 4-2 win.
We have already looked at why Mukasa has given Nuno a major selection decision following his breakthrough performance.
The biggest new question now surrounds the defence.
Morato and Boiro were not involved against Wolves after arriving at the end of the window, but both give Nuno additional options in areas West Ham had been trying to strengthen.
Ollie Scarles started at left-back against Wolves, while Konstantinos Mavropanos partnered Max Kilman centrally.
Changing a winning side immediately would carry some risk, but Nuno now has considerably more flexibility if he wants to freshen up the back four.
Nuno faces difficult West Ham selection call
West Ham’s attacking performance against Wolves also makes wholesale changes unlikely.
Mukasa, Arne Engels, Manor Solomon, Jarrod Bowen, Pablo and Joël Piroe all contributed to a much more dangerous display.
Our full West Ham vs Derby preview explains why Saturday represents an important opportunity to build genuine momentum after an inconsistent opening four Championship matches.
Derby will arrive with injury problems of their own.
Craig Forsyth is facing months out with a knee injury, while captain Lewis Travis is expected to miss another three or four weeks.
That gives West Ham an opportunity.
Nuno finally has a deeper squad following the end of the transfer window and, barring any late setback, Saturday should provide the clearest indication yet of what he considers his strongest Championship side.
The next decision is whether he rewards the players who delivered against Wolves or immediately brings his newest arrivals into the equation.
