West Ham defender Ryan Fredericks missed the lifeless 2-0 defeat by Everton at the London Stadium at the weekend with what has been described as a minor knock to football.london.
The right back has struggled with injury issues all season long since his move to West Ham from Fulham on a free transfer last summer when he arrived as Manuel Pellegrini's first new recruit.
His injury problems have restricted the 24-year-old to just 13 appearances in his first season at the club and he has been absent for 13 games through injury during the 2018/19 campaign.
Fredericks missed a big chunk of the season with a shin problem he picked up after coming on as a substitute during the 1-1 draw against Huddersfield Town which ruled him out for 11 games on the spin. Pablo Zabaleta picked up his workload and has looked incredibly leggy in 2019, while Pellegrini also used Michail Antonio as a makeshift right back for a couple of games over the Christmas period.
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We understand that Fredericks latest problem is just a minor one, much similar to Felipe Anderson's ankle issue that ruled him out of the game on Saturday.
The former Fulham man has now missed the last two games but he wasn't involved for the 4-3 win over Huddersfield a fortnight ago as he simply wasn't selected for the matchday 18.
Fredericks' first season hasn't gone to plan and he could be in competition with Zabaleta for another season at least as Pellegrini is keen to hand the veteran Argentine a contract extension. He will automatically get one if he starts two more Premier League games this season anyway.
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Youngster Ben Johnson, who made his debut as a left back earlier this season against Manchester City, has also penned a new long-term contract at the London Stadium and is expected to challenge for a regular starting berth sooner rather than later. Don't forget Sam Byram too, who is a bit of a forgotten man afetr suffering a serious knee injury on-loan at Nottingham Forest and has only just returned to action for their U23s.
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