Injury analyst Ben Dinnery has hinted at a potential date for West Ham United defender Kurt Zouma to make a return from his latest setback.
The Lowdown: Zouma's injury
In the early stages of West Ham's most recent Premier League game against Leicester City, the Frenchman was forced off the pitch through injury, following some concern about the defender's knee during the warm-up for that match.
Last month, the east London club revealed that Zouma has undergone surgery on his knee and will now be continuing his rehabilitation.
Some further details about the injury have now emerged, along with a potential recovery timeframe.
The Latest: Potential Zouma return date
Speaking to Football Insider, Dinnery addressed Zouma and when he could be in line for a return to action.
He said of the West Ham defender: "The fact that he’s been carrying it for a fairly long time suggests that it’s fairly minimal. It’s an issue they’ve been aware of and were treating it conservatively.
"Everything points to a meniscal problem, so a little tidy-up of the cartilage with the arthroscopy, which is minimal invasion surgery. You expect a four to six week return to play timeline on that. It’s a little bit of a tidy up, it’s nothing too serious.
"You can manage it fairly well but on occasion, it does flare up, as we saw in that last game against Leicester during the warm-up and the decision was taken to go under the knife.
"It may call into question a return for that festive fixture period but certainly for the second half of the campaign, there’s no question about that."
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The Verdict: Good news for West Ham
Judging by what Dinnery had to say about the injury, the surgery and the potential time for which Zouma could be ruled out, it will be good news for everyone at West Ham that the 28-year-old seems unlikely to be sidelined for a considerable period of time.
With only four outfield players at the London Stadium having racked up more league minutes than the Frenchman this season, that shows how important he is to Moyes and the Hammers.
In fact, only Declan Rice (89.1%) has a higher passing accuracy percentage than Zouma (85.9%), who has also made more clearances (68) than any other player at the club, which suggests that Moyes will want him back and fully recovered as soon as possible.
Taking into account how domestic football doesn't start again for another three weeks, this will give the 28-year-old ample time to recover and reduce the chance of him missing too many games.