West Ham United have been dealt a potential injury scare as Alphonse Areola has reportedly missed training ahead of France's World Cup clash against Tunisia. 

The Lowdown: Areola's season so far

So far this season, the shot-stopper has made 11 appearances for the Premier League club across all competitions, keeping five clean sheets in the process.

Having been included in France's World Cup squad, the 29-year-old has been an unused substitute for both of their games against Australia and Denmark so far in Qatar.

With the reigning champions set to take on Tunisia in their final group game of the 2022 tournament, having already secured their place in the last 16, it seems as though the possibility of Areola making his first appearance of the competition has been thrown into question.

The Latest: Areola misses France training

According to a recent report from L'Equipe, Areola missed one of France's training sessions ahead of their match against Tunisia with a suspected issue in his back.

The report also highlights that France have already been hit with some big injury issues which have seen the likes of Karim Benzema and Lucas Hernandez being forced to withdraw from the tournament.

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The Verdict: A concern for West Ham

Despite being the second-choice goalkeeper at West Ham behind Lukasz Fabianski, the possibility of seeing Areola out of action would still be a concern for the Irons and David Moyes.

Having played in all six of West Ham's Europa Conference League games this season, it's clear that he is still an important squad figure at the club.

Across those six appearances, the £120k-per-week Frenchman has faced 17 shots on target and saved 13, leaving him with the sixth-highest save percentage (82.4%) out of all goalkeepers to feature in the competition.

Taking all that into account, everyone at the London Stadium will surely have their fingers crossed that the back issue which kept Areola out of France's training session on Monday will not be anything serious which carries over into the resumption of club action on Boxing Day.