David Moyes reveals injury concern for ‘wonderful’ West Ham gem; he could be a doubt for Lyon

West Ham United manager David Moyes has provided an injury update on Ben Johnson ahead of the Irons’ upcoming Europa League clash against Lyon.

The 22-year-old was missing from the Hammers’ matchday squad for the 2-1 win against relegation-threatened Everton on Sunday. Prior to that victory, the right-back had played the full 90 minutes in West Ham’s last four Premier League games.

As a result, this sparked rumours of an injury which he would have picked up whilst on international duty with England under-21s last week.

During his post-match press conference following the Everton game, Moyes provided details as to why Johnson did not feature in his matchday squad, seemingly a last-gasp decision given the defender’s training pattern leading up to the game.

As quoted by football.london, the West Ham manager claimed: “He felt his hamstring playing for England on Wednesday night. He trained Friday and Saturday but felt it again Saturday. We don’t think it’s bad but it was a decision today. We didn’t not want him for other weeks. I’m hoping he’ll be ok.”

Whilst Moyes doesn’t think that the injury is severe, Johnson could be a doubt for West Ham’s Europa League quarter-final tie against Lyon, which takes place on Thursday.

This would come as a huge blow to the Irons, as the 22-year-old has stepped up brilliantly in Vladimir Coufal’s absence, ranking in the squad’s top five for tackles and clearances per game. It could now be up to an out-of-sorts Ryan Fredericks to fill the void – only one player to have started a league game for the east Londoners this term has a lower WhoScored performance rating.

Described as a “wonderful professional to deal with and work with” by West Ham coach Stuart Pearce, the Hammers will be hoping