West Ham United insider ExWHUemployee has shared details about an alleged illness scare taking place at Rush Green.

The Lowdown: West Ham draw at St Mary's

The Hammers took on Southampton at St Mary’s this afternoon, coming away with a single point after a disappointing 1-1 draw.

Declan Rice scored a fantastic equaliser after a questionable VAR decision involving Kyle Walker-Peters stepping over the line for a throw-in gave Saints the goal for them to cling onto for the remainder of the game.

However, a number of key players were absent from David Moyes’ starting XI. Michail Antonio made a brief three-minute cameo at the end of the game, whilst Kurt Zouma was omitted from the Hammers’ matchday squad completely.

The Latest: Ex’s news

The day before West Ham’s 1-1 draw at Southampton, ExWHUemployee shared his latest interview with The West Ham Way.

With a number of injuries and omissions from the squad against Anderlecht, the Rush Green insider provided further details in their absence.

As quoted by The West Ham Way, Ex claimed: “There has been a case of flu and cold going round the camp and with [a viral infection], the player now has to go into isolation almost instantly when they have any symptoms to stop the spread.

“I believe this affected a number of players on Thursday, notably Antonio and Zouma. The manager has said that Antonio is feeling a bit better, but Zouma has been put into isolation so again, another late decision will be made on him, and I would imagine the team selection too.

“Although at this stage it isn’t known what the issue is with Zouma, so the isolation has been purely as a precaution.

“Both Dawson and Ogbonna felt things during the game and neither were considered serious, but they will face a late race to be available too. I believe Kehrer trained yesterday which is good but Cornet and Aguerd are still missing for the game on Sunday.”

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The Verdict: Zouma’s absence is a big blow

With the news that Zouma has been absent due to illness, the Hammers faithful will be hoping that the Frenchman can make a swift recovery and get back to full fitness as soon as possible.

Prior to today, the 27-year-old had played the full 90 minutes in each of West Ham’s nine Premier League games this season.

In terms of match ratings for the Irons’ central defenders in the currente campaign, Zouma only ranks behind the injured Craig Dawson with a strong 6.88 average in the English top flight (via SofaScore).

Incredibly averaging 5.8 clearances per game, the idea of Zouma’s illness spreading to the rest of the squad at Rush Green will be a scary prospect for Moyes, if it does end up being more than a precaution.