According to The Evening Standard, Jack Wilshere is set to return to the West Ham setup for the visit to Newcastle this weekend. 

The England international has been out of action since September following ankle surgery, and was a member of West Ham's fairly lengthy injury list.

He sustained his injury when West Ham were on a torrid run, whereby they lost their first four fixtures of the season. Since then, The Hammers have been much improved, although slightly erratic. They are now 14th in the Premier League, and manager Manuel Pellegrini has a problem on his hand as to whether he includes the former Arsenal man in his starting XI.

With Declan Rice and Pedro Obiang seemingly occupying the midfield for The Irons, there may be a space for Wilshere in a slightly more advanced role. However, he will have to challenge Robert Snodgrass and the returning Mark Noble for a place.

On current form, therefore, it seems like there is no place for Wilshere. While that may not be a surprise in his first game back, where he was likely to be on the bench anyway, he may struggle to work his way back into the team for a while.

The saving grace for Wilshere is that The Irons are entering a fairly hectic festive period, where there is a huge workload for the players. Squad rotation will be paramount during this period, particularly given the injuries that The Hammers have already, but it is still hard to imagine Wilshere being the Chilean manager's first choice.