West Ham United manager David Moyes has revealed that Danny Ings could return from injury for Saturday's Premier League trip to Newcastle United.
Ings joined the Hammers from Aston Villa for around £15m during the January transfer window, penning a two-and-a-half-year contract.
The 30-year-old came off the bench to make his debut in the 2-0 home win over Everton two week ago, but sustained a knee injury shortly after entering the field of play.
Ings subsequently missed West Ham's FA Cup fourth-round win at Derby County on Monday, but the striker has made progress in his recovery this week and he may feature at St James' Park on Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Moyes said: "Danny Ings is doing quite well. He's got a chance of being available on Saturday.
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"So that's good news for us, but we have to assess it and see how he is. We're not quite 100% sure on him yet.
"He's desperate to get back and he was really disappointed he picked up an injury in the first 15 or 20 seconds [after coming on against Everton].
"We hope that he's fine – he's certainly not 100% and we wouldn't be thinking or expecting him to be – but having him around is a big boost and he's an important player for us.
"He was an important signing for us in January, I like him a lot and hopefully he goes on to prove that."
Moyes has also confirmed that Gianluca Scamacca (knee), Kurt Zouma (thigh) and Maxwel Cornet (calf) will not be involved on Saturday as they continue to recover from injury.
"Gianluca is not available, Kurt Zouma is not available, Maxi Cornet is not available for Saturday," Moyes added. "They're all getting better and I couldn't give you precise dates on any of them, but hopefully they are going in the right direction.
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"Maxi has gone back to France again – he's not quite ready yet to step up to training levels. We need to bring him on and hopefully get him back as quick as we can.
"He needs to get a bit more pitch work done. He's doing work in the gym, he's exercising – look, he's not feeling his calf muscle anymore and is feeling much better, but if you're asking is he back at 100% yet? No, he's probably 60 or 70% and we're hoping that it won't be too long."
West Ham head into Saturday's fixture having turned a corner in recent weeks after winning three and drawing one of their last five matches in all competitions.
The Hammers have accumulated seven points from their last four games at St James' Park and will be seeking to cause an upset against a high-flying Newcastle side who are pushing for Champions League qualification.
Moyes and co currently sit 16th in the Premier League table, but a victory on Saturday could see them climb to as high as 13th place and four points above the relegation zone if other results were to go their way.
Oliver Thomas
