Arnautovic ready for West Ham return

Arnautovic ready for West Ham return
Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v AFC Bournemouth - London Stadium, London, Britain - August 18, 2018 West Ham's Marko Arnautovic reacts REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Copyright Eddie Keogh(Reuters)
By Reuters
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

(Reuters) - Marko Arnautovic is ready for a return to the West Ham United squad for Saturday's Premier League clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers after he returned to training this week, manager Manuel Pellegrini said.

The Austrian forward hobbled off during West Ham's 3-1 loss at Arsenal with a knee problem last weekend, and missed their 3-1 League Cup win at AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday.

"Marko had a small problem behind his knee in the last game," Pellegrini told a news conference on Thursday.

"In the last game (against Arsenal) he was not comfortable to play the final minutes, but he has had all the examinations with the doctor and worked the whole week."

West Ham are still searching for their first points of the season having fallen to defeats against Liverpool, Bournemouth and Arsenal this month.

They have scored just two goals during their sluggish start to the league campaign, both by Arnautovic, but Pellegrini saw signs of improvement as his team came back from a goal down to put away Wimbledon.

"It's not easy to do it, I can give you examples when League One teams have beaten Premier League teams," Pellegrini added.

"We continued believing in ourselves, despite going a goal behind, and they defended very well."

The former Manchester City manager said he does not feel any added pressure despite being rooted to the bottom of the league standings.

"If we started this season by winning three games, the pressure would be exactly the same for the next game," Pellegrini said.

"The pressure from the media can increase when you have no points but for me, the pressure is always the same."

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Share this articleComments

You might also like

UEFA Champions League draw: Real Madrid face Chelsea in quarter-finals

Want to find out which city is best for running? Here’s the world’s top 10 cities

England's stunning 8-0 win over Norway in women's European Championship