The news fans dreaded has occurred. After what was already a disappointing result against Southampton, as the Hammers charged for a late goal, Konstantinos Mavropanos was taken out by Southampton’s Daniel Peretz and subsequently suffered a knee injury which the club are not immensely hopeful about.
The Greek international is set to be out for 4-6 weeks, which will serve as a devastating blow as he could miss up to nine matches, one of which being Middlesbrough at the beginning of December.
Further information on the injury’s timescale is set to be reported in the near future, but it’s certainly not positive.
However, with this news coming to light, it now begs the question, who replaces him? Nuno could potentially opt to use Max Kilman and Morato with Ollie Scarles fulfilling the left-back role. Alternatively, he could continue to use Morato and a left-back and promote Airidas Golambeckis to a starting role.
To be injured during these Championship matches in the build-up to the Christmas period is the poorest timing possible. However, the Hammers should have the squad depth to cover these troubles, but the quality and performance of the depth is to be discovered.
The decisions for the foreseeable future will be revealed against West Brom on this upcoming Saturday at the London Stadium.
Comments
I have full confidence in
I have full confidence in Golembeckis and Morato is more than comfortable at Centre Back. There is no doubting Mav will be a big loss. But as I keep saying. That's why we have a squad...
Says a lot
That losing Mav is a big issue. Yes we need him right now but hey, he ain't no Tommy Taylor, Slaven Bilic, Marc Reiper, Alvin Martin or even our beloved Dawson and Ginge. As said above, Morato is competent enough and Golem could maybe step up to the mark. Playing on the front foot however would take a lot of pressure off WHOEVER we put at the back