Gianfranco Zola sounded confident last night, that Carlton Cole’s hamstring injury was not a serious setback for the striker. Cole limped off after 32 minutes of the 2-1 win over Aston Villa, with left-back Ilunga suffering a similar injury early on in the first half.
“I don’t think the injuries are serious but they are both hamstrings. We will assess them in the next couple of days.”
Hamstring injuries, even in their mildest form, often sideline a player for three weeks. If Cole and Ilunga have suffered grade one hamstring strains, it would likely see them miss both this weekend’s date with Everton and the visit to Hull City in a fortnight. Should they be more serious, we’d be looking at a 4-6 week absence…
While Zola was basking in the afterglow of victory last night, this would be bad news for West Ham and of course Cole’s fantasy owners. The former Chelsea striker has been a farily consistent scorer of late and had a run of decent fixtures in front of him (EVE hul BUR MUN bir). The one plus from all this would be the emergence of Zavon Hines. He earned the spot-kick and struck the winner last night and now looks set for a run of starts, having already caught the eye earlier in the season.
Zola was waxing lyrical about the potential of Hines post-match, giving clear indication that the young striker will earn a start against Everton.
“Every time I play Hines he’s been very good. He just needs to keep working the way he is doing. I am very pleased for him and for us.”
Hines is another budget striker for the list then, but given his impact last night and his forthcoming fixtures, he looks a strong option. You can currently pick him up for just 4.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game.