David Moyes expects both forward Jarrod Bowen and defender Vladimír Coufal to return to action in the coming weeks.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the West Ham United manager was ambivalent as to whether those returns could come at London Stadium against former club Everton in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Irons face at least ten – and as many as 13 – fixtures between now and the end of May, as they continued to challenge at the business end of Premier League and UEFA Europa League campaigns.
And Moyes was positive that Bowen, who picked up a heel injury facing Liverpool at Anfield on 6 March, and Coufal, who underwent successful surgery on a groin injury in February, will both have their respective parts to play in the season run-in.
"There's a chance that both of them could make it [against Everton],” Moyes confirmed with regards to Bowen and Coufal.
“They’ve both done a bit of training over this international break, so there’s a chance they could both be there. I'm not quite sure both of them are actually ready and match-fit again, so that’s probably my only concern.
"It doesn’t [affect my thinking that we have a Europa League quarter-final next week] because we have to concentrate on this game first.
“We've got a busy schedule as well, so we've got to be aware of that and try to make sure we don't overcook any of the players, but at the same time we need to win the next game – and that’s against Everton.”
Should Bowen prove unavailable to face the Toffees, the forward – the Irons’ top scorer so far this season with 12 strikes to his name – will have missed his side’s last four games in all competitions.
But such has been the strength of the performances of the wider squad in that time, and indeed during previous first-team absences, Moyes remains upbeat his side can still attain their goals on the field.
"I expect him to be on the pitch, Jarrod, in the coming weeks,” the manager continued.
“I don't know if I expect him to be on the pitch this week, but I certainly expect him to be on it shortly.
"He's a miss for us, but there have been periods where we’ve missed other key players and we've got through it.
“We’ve been missing Jarrod for a couple of weeks now, but hopefully he's not too far away."
The manager also confirmed that midfielder Manuel Lanzini, who was involved in a car accident on the way to training on Thursday, was unhurt and available for selection.
Moyes noted: "He's a bit sore but he's okay. It's terrible, as it would be for any of us, but we don't want to go on too much about it. Sadly, it happens in all walks of life.
“It's happened to Manuel but he's okay, thankfully."
