Brentford have been handed an injury boost after Keith Andrews confirmed that Reiss Nelson and Gustavo Nunes will be available for selection against West Ham.
Nelson and Nunes each played 45 minutes as Brentford Under-21s beat QPR at the Gtech Community Stadium on Tuesday, with Arsenal loanee Nelson working his way back from illness whilst Nunes has been out since July with a hamstring injury sustained during a pre-season friendly with Gil Vicente.
Andrews also added that full-back Aaron Hickey was back on the grass after picking up a knock during Scotland’s 3-1 win over Greece during the international break.
"Aaron got a bit of a knock in Scotland's first game of the international break and he missed the second match, but he has been back on the grass today,” Andrews said in his pre-match press conference.
The Brentford boss, who is searching for his first points away from home ahead of Monday’s trip to the London Stadium, offered his sympathies to Antoni Milambo, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury over the international break.
Milambo, who joined Brentford for £17million from Feyenoord this summer, will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery.
"He is obviously very down," Andrews continued. "It is devastating for him, first and foremost. He is at a new club, settling into a new country as a very young player that we have high, high hopes for.
"Suffering an injury of that level is obviously very disappointing, but the one thing he knows is that he will get a lot of support here and time to heal.”
It has been a chastening start to life in England for Milambo, who was hooked at half-time during his first and only Premier League appearance of the season as Brentford were beaten 3-1 by Nottingham Forest in Andrews’ first game in charge.
The midfielder started both of Brentford’s Carabao Cup victories against Aston Villa and Bournemouth, but has been an unused substitute or missed out on a place in the matchday squad in the Bees’ last six Premier League outings.
Milambo arrived in west London following a breakthrough campaign with Feyenoord in which he registered seven goals and nine assists across all competitions.
However, following that difficult Premier League debut against Forest, his minutes have been limited, with a total of just 172 of them in total.
"To go through that process is the worst part of being a footballer: not being able to do what you love,” Andrews added.
"Antoni's got a long road back to getting back on the pitch, but he will get so much support from everyone here at Brentford."
