West Ham United manager David Moyes has confirmed that Saturday's Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground will come too soon for Lucas Paqueta.
The Brazilian playmaker has missed each of the Hammers' last five games in all competitions since sustaining a calf injury in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City in the FA Cup at the beginning of January.
West Ham supporters were boosted by Paqueta's return to training at Rush Green on Thursday, but the 26-year-old is not quite ready for first-team selection.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Moyes said: "[Lucas] is not fit and available for tomorrow. He's been on the grass for a couple of days but he's not fully there yet.
"We've missed Lucas loads. There was a period before the Africa Cup of Nations started where we were playing really well, but you have to remember we lost Mohammed Kudus for games around that period, as well as Nayef Aguerd. We'd also lost Jarrod Bowen due to injury after the last international break, as had [Michail] Antonio out too.
"But I've seen Newcastle United have big injuries this season, and Manchester United have had injuries at different times of the season. We're just having a bit of that in this period since January."
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West Ham striker Antonio has been sidelined since December 12 with a knee ligament injury sustained on international duty with Jamaica.
However, the 33-year-old returned to training last week and Moyes has revealed that he is in contention to play against Forest on Saturday.
"Michail is back and is back available," said the Scotsman. "We'll need to see how we think he is, but he's been back training and has probably had a week or so training with us, so he's back in the squad."
Moyes has also allayed fears regarding the availability of West Ham duo Kurt Zouma and Edson Alvarez, who were taken off at half time in last weekend heavy 6-0 home defeat to Arsenal.
"Kurt Zouma is fine. Our bigger problem was Edson Alvarez, who came off at half time due to illness, but he's recovered as well," the Hammers boss added.
West Ham are looking to end a seven-game winless run across all competitions when they face a Forest side whom they beat 3-2 at the London Stadium earlier this season.
The Hammers, who have lost their last two Premier League games by an aggregate score of 9-0, currently sit eighth in the table, level on points with Newcastle United in seventh and five points behind Manchester United in sixth.
Oliver Thomas
