West Ham's first winter break has not been ideal. It started with a wasted trip to Manchester and has been curtailed by their return to The Etihad on Wednesday for the rescheduled game.
There is, perhaps, one silver lining however. Felipe Anderson was back in training ahead of the break and had an outside chance of being involved in the original fixture.
A week off followed by another spell of training - David Moyes had his squad back on Saturday following their allotted time off - and everyone in east London is hopeful the Brazilian fit and firing once more.
Anderson scored his first goal of the season in Moyes's first game in charge, a 4-0 win over Bournemouth, but has made just one Premier League appearance since having been sidelined through injury. And Moyes has been crying out for his creative flair.
"I asked him if he was Brazilian," Moyes said after his first game back at the club. "Brazilian’s score goals, Brazilian’s make the difference, they do something which makes us all excited.
"I said you’re not doing that. Give me a Brazilian goal and to be fair, he did.”
Whether Anderson has enough to secure shocks against Manchester City and Liverpool is a big ask, but he certainly has more than enough to get the Hammers back up the table when at his best.
West Ham have everything crossed that his personal extended break will have done the trick.
