West Ham manager David Moyes hopes to have summer signing Nayef Aguerd in his squad for Thursday’s Europa Conference League game against Silkeborg.
Morocco defender Aguerd, who joined the Hammers from Rennes for £30m in June, has not featured since injuring his ankle in pre-season.
Moyes said the 26-year-old is not yet ready to play in the Premier League but could feature in Europe.
“I see Nayef hopefully giving us something we’ve not had,” said Moyes.
“He’s not in contention for Sunday [against Manchester United] but we’re hoping to have him in the squad tomorrow, one way or another,” he added.
“I want to give him time. He’s a good reader of the game, he’s quick and he’s good in the air, but because he’s not played any Premier League games it’s difficult for us to give an overall judgement.”
Maxwel Cornet, Craig Dawson and Lucas Paqueta are all still unavailable for the Hammers but “hopefully they are not too far away”, Moyes said.
West Ham are already guaranteed to progress from Group B after winning all four games so far.
They require one point in their remaining two games – against second-placed Silkeborg or FCSB – to top the group, which would see them avoid having to play a knockout round play-off tie to qualify for the last 16.
