Nicklas Fullkrug has suffered through a disastrous his first season at West Ham United. Fullkrug, who moved over from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, missed two months due at the beginning of the year due to a strained Achilles.
He returned to action last month, but he now has a substantial hamstring injury, suffering the problem in the 2-1 FA Cup loss to Aston Villa on Friday night.
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“Losing Niclas was a blow,” newly minted manager Graham Potter said on Friday.
“It doesn’t look good. Obviously, how he pulled up didn’t look positive, so I’m not hopeful about that. Of course, you never know.”
It has been confirmed now that Fulkrug will be out for a few weeks, leaving then severely depleted in the attack, and attacking midfield, given that:
Michail Antonio is done for the season after undergoing surgery to repair the broken leg he suffered in an auto accident last month
Team captain Jarrod Bowen is out indefinitely with a fractured foot
-Crysencio Summerville also picked up an unspecified injury of some sort on Friday night.
“Cree was nowhere near as severe as it looked,” said Potter.
“But it’s too early to say. His substitution was more precautionary at half-time. as well. He sort of wanted to half carry on, but it wasn’t worth taking the chance.”
It does not sound serious, but West Ham also have to contend with Emerson and Jean-Clair Todibo being in the treatment room.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.