West Ham: Pellegrini provides encouraging Fabianski injury update
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has provided a positive injury update regarding first-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
The 2018/19 ‘Hammer of the Year’ sustained a hip agitation during West Ham’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth towards the end of September.
When will Fabianski return? Five things to know…
- Fabianski injured his hip during West Ham’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth in September.
- The Polish ‘keeper was not expected back until the New Year.
- In his absence, Roberto has stepped into the fold but was recently dropped after a string of poor performances.
- David Martin supplanted the Spaniard at the weekend and kept a clean sheet as West Ham beat Chelsea 1-0.
- Pellegrini says Fabianski is back in training and could, in fact, return this month.
Summer recruit Roberto has deputised in the Pole’s absence but has proven an unmitigated disaster, with the Spaniard guilty of multiple goalmouth blunders and shipping 14 goals in just six games.
His poor form forced Pellegrini to call up 33-year-old David Martin for the clash against Chelsea on Saturday, with the boyhood fan keeping a clean sheet on his Premier League debut as the Hammers triumphed 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Martin, son of West Ham legend Alvin Martin, has made himself something of a cult hero given his blood ties and heroics over the weekend, but fans will be excited to hear that Fabianski is nearing a return.
“Lukasz is working in a normal way,” Pellegrini said. “Probably he will be ready at the end of the month, but I think that we must be careful with his return and not try to bring him back before he’s absolutely ready.
“He’s training, not with the squad, but he’s training.”
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Pellegrini: dropping Roberto was a “very difficult decision”
Despite cries from West Ham fans for Roberto to be dropped, Pellegrini insists the decision to axe his summer signing on Saturday was not an easy one.
He said: “It was very difficult [to drop Roberto]. It’s a position you must be very careful of when you change it. I gave him the most amount of matches you can as a manager, but at the moment we needed a reaction.
“It was a risk with Martin because he had never played before in the Premier League but he did very well. They are a complete team and the defenders helped him a lot to keep a clean sheet.
“It was a very important win, because we have had results that are not expected or deserved. You must be solid and consistent. That was the major change that we did compared with other games and it allowed us to keep a clean sheet and beat a team like Chelsea who are in a very good moment.”
