Could Carlos Sanchez injury open door for West Ham’s Conor Coventry?

Follow us on Google Discover

Conor Coventry made his West Ham United debut during their recent Carabao Cup win.

While West Ham’s midfield trio of Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang have arguably been one of the main catalysts behind the Hammers’ recent remarkable turnaround, Manuel Pellegrini goes into the weekend with a slight problem.

The West Ham boss has confirmed, in comments reported by the London Evening Standard, that Carlos Sanchez requires surgery on his knee, but is still a couple of weeks away from being able to go under the knife.

Sanchez’s injury was perhaps the one downside to emerge from the Irons’ stunning 8-0 win over Macclesfield in the Carabao Cup last month. No-one was expecting the League Two side to spring a surprise, but the victory will still be a memorable one for West Ham given the number of academy starlets to feature in the contest.

Grady Diangana and Joe Powell probably stole more of the headlines on their senior debuts, but another man to make his first-team bow for the Hammers on that night was Conor Coventry, who replaced Obiang at half-time.

And perhaps Coventry may be about to be the biggest beneficiary of the disappointing news regarding Sanchez.

The injury to the Colombian leaves Pellegrini facing a depth crisis with his first-choice trio set to be his only senior options until the likes of Sanchez and Jack Wilshere get back to full fitness. And it appears that both players’ returns are a little while off.

With that in mind, Coventry – who has continued training with the first-team following the cup win – arguably deserves a spot on the bench for the trip to Brighton on Friday.

In an ideal world, Pellegrini will not be forced to use him, but if West Ham’s fantastic recent form continues, perhaps it would be worth giving the 18-year-old some more minutes in case he is needed in the first couple of games after the break.

And while they are already proving to be massive shoes to fill, perhaps there is a chance further down the line that Coventry can take inspiration from Rice and become the latest academy starlet to move themselves into Pellegrini’s plans on a more regular basis.