Jarrod Bowen has been an important miss for West Ham this month, though the arrival of new manager Graham Potter has signalled somewhat of a turnaround at the London Stadium.
With five goals and four assists in the Premier League prior to fracturing his foot in the 5-0 loss to Liverpool at the end of December, Bowen is undoubtedly one of West Ham's key players and could be the difference against Chelsea on Monday night.
But after missing four league games already for the Hammers, is Bowen's absence set to extend into February?
Jarrod Bowen in line to return against Chelsea
Back in training and making good progress, Bowen is ahead of schedule compared to original injury prognosis. While he missed the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa last weekend, he has been back running and joining in sessions with his team-mates.
Crysencio Summerville may be a big doubt for the trip to Stamford Bridge, but Graham Potter is "hopeful" that 28-year-old talisman Bowen will be able to play against Chelsea on Monday
“With Jarrod, we’re more positive,” Potter said. “He’s obviously got a few more days to train [ahead of Monday’s game], but it’s looking hopeful. He’s had more time [to recover], with the nature of the injury.
"He’s trained the last two days, and we’ve still got some more training sessions to go so, as I said, we’re hopeful for him.”
West Ham will hope that Bowen is available in at least some capacity, especially when considering that Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio are also both out injured and not expected to return for a while yet.
Danny Ings is currently the side's only fit forward, but the 32-year-old is out of favour and has started just one Premier League game this season.
