Double bubble as Hammers duo return

West Ham loan pair Reece Burke and Kyle Knoyle are back from injury for Wigan Athletic's visit of Brighton.
Reece BurkeReece Burke
Reece Burke

The duo both came through a reserve-team game at their parent club unscathed this week, and boss Gary Caldwell has added them to his squad for the weekend.

Burke has missed the last six games after undergoing hernia surgery, while Knoyle has yet to kick a ball in anger for Latics after dislocating his elbow in his first training session at Wigan back in July.

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“Reece played 45 minutes on Monday, Kyle played 90 minutes, and he’s shown up great as well in training,” confirmed boss Caldwell.

“They’ll both be in contention for Saturday which is obviously a massive boost for us.”

Despite only making two appearances, Burke had started his loan spell very well, while Caldwell admits he can’t wait to see Knoyle come to the end of his injury nightmare.

He added: “For a young player to come from a Premier League club on loan, and get injured on your first day...the attitude he’s shown, the willingness to be here..

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“Quite often they can just go back to their parent club and have an easy ride.

“But Kyle’s wanted to stay here, get to know the club, get to know his team-mates, and I can’t speak highly enough of him.

“I’m really looking forward to getting the opportunity to playing him in the game, because he’s a very good young player with a fantastic attitude.

“It’s going to be great having them both available – and that’s the decisions I want.

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“I want to be able to pick from a number of players, it’s been far too easy to pick certain parts of the team recently. It’s important to have those options back.”

After making do and mending for much of the campaign, Caldwell now has a real selection headache at the back.

Deposed captain Craig Morgan has recently returned after a month on the sidelines to challenge the likes of Stephen Warnock, Jake Buxton and Dan Burn for a starting spot.