Niclas Fullkrug set to miss West Ham’s trip to rivals Tottenham as Julen Loptegui refuses to put timeline on striker’s return

Niclas Fullkrug will miss West Ham’s London derby with Tottenham on Saturday, with head coach Julen Lopetegui admitting he does not know when the striker will return from injury.

Fullkrug has not featured for the Hammers since August after picking up an Achilles injury while playing for Germany in the September international break.

The striker, who joined West Ham in a £23million move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, was originally expected to be sidelined for just two weeks but has suffered set-backs in his recovery.

The 32-year-old is yet to score for his new club and Lopetegui refused to put a timeline on his return.

‘At the start we thought it was not an important injury, but he had a complication,’ Lopetegui said.

Julen Lopetegui has admitted that he is unsure when the striker will be able to return to action

‘We are waiting for him to recover. We were thinking he would be out for two weeks maximum, it’s now been a month and a half. Hopefully he’s going to be ready for the next matches but right now he’s out. I prefer not to say [when he’s back], let’s see.’

The Hammers will be looking to maintain their unbeaten away record when they travel to Spurs on Saturday. 

Lopetegui was full of praise for his opposite number Ange Postecoglou and outlined how West Ham will have to overcome Tottenham’s high-line approach.

‘I think Ange changed a lot of things in their team,’ Lopetegui said.

Fullkrug joined West Ham in a £23million move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer

‘In my opinion, he made their players and team better and that’s why I like to see this team.

‘We will try to beat this kind of high line situation, playing well and winning a lot of mini-matches on the pitch.’