West Ham manager Slaven Bilic admits he hopes to welcome back playmaker Dimitri Payet to the squad for the Liverpool game.
The French midfielder was the Hammers’ star performer during the early exchanges as the Boleyn Ground outfit enjoyed memorable triumphs over Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
However, he then suffered a serious ankle injury at the start of November, with West Ham failing to win any of the five league fixtures in his absence.
Manager Slaven Bilic has now revealed that Payet could return into action for the first game of 2016, with the Hammers playing host to Liverpool on 2 January.
“He’s ahead of schedule,” Bilic said. “Payet is training with the fitness coaches and he might be involved in the Liverpool game, which is a big boost.”
“His ankle is very good – it is stable – so it is great news if it goes like this.”
Following the five-match winless run, West Ham slipped to eighth in the overall standings, and they are 3.00 (2/1) to achieve a top table finish.
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