Thursday 7 February 2019 15:10, UK
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed Marko Arnautovic is fit to face Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Arnautovic missed the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Monday night after sustaining a foot injury in the 3-0 defeat to Wolves on January 29.
However, the Austria international has returned to full training this week and is available to face the Eagles at Selhurst Park.
"Marko Arnautovic and Aaron Cresswell worked the complete week without any problems, but Samir Nasri needs some more days to recover from his calf injury," said Pellegrini.
"Marko is available for the weekend. He worked the complete week without problems.
"Of course, it is good news for us. He is a player who makes a difference and is important for our team.
"He needs to recover his best shape after a long time without playing and with his last injury, so I hope he will be a very important player for us over the last part of the season."
Pellegrini is hopeful Manuel Lanzini can return to first-team action before the end of the month after missing more than eight months with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
However, the Chilean is less optimistic about long-term absentees Andriy Yarmolenko [Achilles], Carlos Sanchez [knee] Winston Reid [knee] and Jack Wilshere [ankle].
"Not only Andriy Yarmolenko [will not return this season], but Carlos Sanchez will also not be ready and I don't think Winston Reid will be ready," said Pellegrini.
"Jack Wilshere, I have some doubts if he will be ready, so there are a lot of players who will continue recovering from their injuries.
"I think and I hope that Manuel Lanzini will be ready for Fulham, at least to go to the bench, if he continues improving over the next two weeks, Ryan Fredericks is OK working with us and Fabian Balbuena will be ready in a couple of weeks.
"So, for the last weeks of the season, those are the players who must make the difference."
Crystal Palace have taken fewer points at Selhurst Park than in their away games this season but Pellegrini insists that poor home form will mean little when the two teams meet this weekend.
"Crystal Palace has a very good squad," he said. "They have important players in attack, a manager that knows all about football.
"It may be that they didn't have some results, like most teams in the Premier League - it is a very difficult league.
"If we want to get some points there, we must not look at the results of their home games. We need to play better than them."
