West Ham in double injury blow as Sheffield United prepare for return to action

West Ham will be sweating on two of their most important players leading up to their trip to face Sheffield United on Sunday.

While the Blades have been afforded a rest due to the staggered Premier League winter break, the Hammers' inability to see off Bristol City in the FA Cup means they have a replay on Tuesday before heading to South Yorkshire at the weekend. And David Moyes' side may well be doing so without two key men, who will definitely be out of the replay against the Robins at Ashton Gate.

Assistant manager Billy McKinley, stepping into press conference duties ahead of that tie, admitted Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta will miss the cup tie and there are concerns they may not be available for the trip to Bramall Lane on Sunday.

Both players picked up injuries when West Ham drew 1-1 with Bristol City at the London Stadium, with Paqueta coming off in the early stages with a calf complaint, while Bowen picked up an ankle knock having put the Hammers ahead.

“Lucas isn’t available - he took a knock in the last game - and Jarrod’s the same,” said McKinley. “They’re the injuries that have come about since the last match, so we’ll see how they progress after tomorrow and across the next few days.”

“We’re short of a couple of players, so we’re going to need to make some changes," he added. “Training’s been positive over the last couple of days, so we’ll see how it goes between now and the game and then the gaffer will pick the team he thinks is right.”

West Ham are already without the injured Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus is on AFCON duty with Ghana and on the face of it they could probably do without this replay, while other teams, including the Blades get the chance to work on the training pitch and get some players who are carrying knocks back up to scratch.

However, McKinley doesn't see it that way, adding: "The way they’ve structured the mid-season break has been a bit of a hybrid, with some clubs getting the first part of it off, and some the second part, so there’s probably no other way of getting the fixtures in.

"I’ve not really looked too deeply into the whys and why nots of the fixture dates. In general the players are playing a lot of games and the fixture calendar is congested. That’s the way it is.

"The players are used to having that number of games. We’re delighted we’ve got the game and we’ve still got an opportunity to progress in the FA Cup."