West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic is set to start against Newcastle despite limping off with a hip injury last weekend.
Arnautovic could not complete the 90 minutes as Manchester City ran out 4-0 winners at the London Stadium but the Austria international, who has scored five times in the Premier League this season, has been in training and will make the trip to the north-east on Saturday.
“Marko has worked the whole week without any problem,” said West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini.
“We gave him an extra day to recover from the game on Saturday but he is OK.”
Arnautovic’s injury withdrawal meant the Hammers played the final minutes against the Premier League champions with only 10 men.
“Marko felt that he could worsen his injury if he continued,” Pellegrini added. “We were losing 3-0 then so it wasn’t that important.”
Pellegrini also revealed that Jack Wilshere could feature on Saturday following his latest injury.
The former Arsenal midfielder, 26, has played only four times since his summer move from the Emirates Stadium and has been sidelined for 10 weeks following ankle surgery.
But Wilshere and ex-Magpie Andy Carroll, who has not played one competitive minute this season but was an unused substitute against City last weekend, are in Pellegrini’s plans for Saturday’s fixture.
“Andy is maybe one step (further) forward than Wilshere because he played 45 minutes in the friendly game that we had against Brentford,” added Pellegrini.
“He has worked without any problems this week, same as Jack. Maybe they will be in the squad list.”
West Ham travel to Newcastle off the back of a heavy league defeat, and with just one victory in 20 years at St James’ Park.
Rafa Benitez’s side meanwhile, have won three matches in succession to move them to 12th, one place ahead of West Ham, in the table.
“Momentum is always important and Newcastle have trust in this moment because they are winning,” said Pellegrini.
“I don’t think it is a crucial match for both teams but it is an important match for both teams.
“We need to add points, they are at home and in a good moment but after this one, we need to play 24 games more.”
