Cresswell in line for West Ham return

Aaron Cresswell could make his first Premier League appearance in five months when West Ham face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

Cresswell is yet to play this term after suffering a knee ligament injury in pre-season, with Slaven Bilic’s side struggling for fluency early in the campaign in the absence of a number of top stars.

The Hammers are 18th heading into the weekend, with a solitary win to their name from seven league matches in 2016-17 as a switch to London Stadium has failed to inspire them to date.

French full-back Arthur Masuaku has struggled to adapt to English football after joining from Olympiacos and Bilic could opt to recall Cresswell for the trip to play Alan Pardew’s men at Selhurst Park.

“A few of the players are back from international duty today,” Bilic told a media conference. “We have used the period to work hard.

“Aaron Cresswell is back and looks sharp. He will be in the squad for Saturday and we will then make a decision.

“I am not looking for excuses but we had many injuries. A lot of them are now coming back.

“Dimitri Payet got injured and then he came back and looked sharp against Middlesbrough. He produced that piece of magic and scored a great goal. 

“We are expecting him to carry on this good form. In every side you have exceptional players who you expect to do good things.” 

Saturday’s fixture will see defender James Tomkins return to the club he made almost 250 appearances for after emerging through West ham’s youth system.

Bilic revealed that the decision for Tomkins to make a £10million switch to Selhurst Park was solely the player’s.

“I tried to explain the situation with James Tomkins. I didn’t want him to leave but I couldn’t guarantee he would play every week,” Bilic said.

“That is the reason he wanted to leave. He wanted to be guaranteed first-team football.”