Bilic press conference: Spurs match ‘too early’ for Lanzini; Obiang also out

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic ruled Manuel Lanzini out once again for Saturday early afternoon London derby against Tottenham.

In his weekly pre-match press conference, the newly turned 49-year-old shared that Pedro Obiang’s injury from the West Brom match would rule him versus Mauricio Pochettino’s side, but indicated that captain Mark Noble had recovered from his short-team knee injury that hampered him last week. However, the Hammers will once again be without their defense unlocking Argentine wizard, as well as the team’s second best passer in Obiang, vs formidable Spurs.

“Lanzini has started training with us, with the team,” Bilic said. “But Saturday is way too early for him.”

“Pedro got injured at West Brom. It was one of those injuries where the player finishes the game all well, no problems, but he picked up an injury. So, it’s nothing major or big, but he won’t play on Saturday. He won’t be in the squad.”

Bilic expressed how delighted he was to have Noble back in the squad, especially in the midst of Obiang now being unavailable.

“It is important to have Mark, he’s our skipper,” he said. “He’s the club captain, he’s responsible for a good atmosphere and shape and everything and discipline in the dressing room, on and off the pitch.”

“It’s great to have him back in the team and where he fits, he’s really good player and important person and player.”

With Obiang’s injury, you can expect teen sensation Declan Rice to be back in the matchday squad. You can catch Saturday’s anticipated clash between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at 12:30 London time, 7:30 ET time, with coverage live on Brace The Hammers’ Twitter feed.

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