Coufal v Saint-Maxim looks a non starter

Vladi Coufal may well find himself on the bench when the Hammers take on Newcastle at the London Stadium on Saturday.

The right back was less than average in the game against Leicester City at the weekend and was eventually replaced by Ryan Fredericks. Indeed he’s not been the same player since returning from a groin injury.

However, that would be a dangerous switch with Newcastle’s major threat Allan Saint-Maximin coming down the left wing given that the former Fulham man is far better offensively than defensively.

So it could well be that Ben Johnson will be handed the task of coping with the 24 year old after failing to make a Premier League appearance since January 1.

The manager believes Kurt Zouma will be back for the game but having seen Issa Diop perform so well at Leicester and Craig Dawson too both at front and back he has a decision to make on his back line where Aaron Cresswell had an unimpressive game, giving away the penalty which allowed City back into the game.