Key West Ham United defender Konstantinos Mavropanos arrived ahead of West Ham’s training session after suffering an injury while playing for Greece over the international break.
Indeed, Mavropanos was taken off after a knock to the head when Greece played a friendly against Paraguay last week.
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A graphic showing West Ham United's ideal XI against Leeds in the FA Cup.
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The defender then missed his country’s draw with Hungary as a precaution.
However, in the build-up to West Ham’s FA Cup meeting with Leeds, the towering defender issued what looked like a positive update.
Mavropanos back at Rush Green ahead of West Ham versus Leeds
It’s unclear if Mavropanos trained as normal ahead of Sunday’s game but his statement on Instagram sounded positive enough.
The defender, so crucial to West Ham’s chances of success this season, captioned two images of him arriving at the club’s training ground: “Back.”
Summerville, Todibo and Mavropanos are firing at last!
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Tim Steidten technical director of West Ham United ahead of the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Aston Villa FC at London Stadium on August 17, 2024 in London, England.
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Nuno did not mention the 28-year-old when running through his team news at Friday’s pre-match press conference, though it was only Crysencio Summerville who was named.
Summerville remains a doubt for the game, and Nuno will no doubt hope that at least one of Mavropanos or Jean-Clair Todibo are fit.
Like Mavropanos, Todibo has impressed in recent weeks, but the Frenchman suffered a calf injury in the build-up to the defeat to Aston Villa before the international break.
Konstantinos Mavropanos during West Ham's FA Cup game against Burton.
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
It remains to be seen if any risks are taken on either player, however.
While Nuno has vowed to take the FA Cup seriously, Mavropanos has been brilliant for West Ham recently.
As such, there may be a temptation to rest him even if he is fit, particularly with a six-pointer against Wolves coming just under a week later.
Either way, it’s promising to see a player so crucial to the club’s survival chances back after a scare over the course of the international break.
Like with Summerville, the chances of West Ham staying up are significantly improved when Mavropanos plays.
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