Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that he is getting closer to having almost a full house of West Ham United players to choose from when his side take on Southampton this weekend.
The Irons will welcome the Saints to London Stadium for the final home game of the campaign on Saturday, and Pellegrini says his side will be without Andriy Yarmolenko and Andy Carroll for the match, while Winston Reid also continues his recovery.
It means that Manuel Lanzini, Samir Nasri and Aaron Cresswell, who missed out on last weekend’s win at Tottenham Hotspur, could be in contention for Saturday’s match.
Pellegrini said: “Lanzini, Cresswell and Nasri are all ready.
“We will see tomorrow about the starting XI and who will go on the bench, but for the first week of the season maybe, we have different options for starting and on the bench.”
The manager was asked for his thoughts about how Felipe Anderson had performed this season. The Brazilian – West Ham’s club record signing – put in another strong outing against Tottenham, and Pellegrini is delighted with how the winger has played for the Irons.
The Chilean is anticipating even more from Anderson next season as he begins to prepare for the new campaign.
“I think Felipe has been a very good signing for our club,” he added. “He is a young player that makes a difference in games. He had a good season but I think he will improve a lot after one year in the Premier League.
“I’m sure next season we will see another Felipe Anderson; he did it well this season, but he will do it better next season.”