Weekend briefing: Ins, outs and injury doubts for this week's matches

Ins, outs and injury doubts for the weekend's football matches in the Premier League and the EFL.

Injuries hampering Hammers

West Ham moved back into the top four in the Premier League with a 3-2 success at Wolves on Monday but there was a price to pay with Michail Antonio suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury which he had tried to manage for much of the campaign.

Antonio was replaced by Jarrod Bowen in the 36th minute and is set to join influential midfielder Declan Rice on the sidelines.

But there was better news for David Moyes concerning midfielder Tomas Soucek (ankle) and Jesse Lingaard (cramp), who are expected to be available for Sunday's key match at home to Leicester.

Moyes will be anxious to go with as strong a side as possible against the Foxes but the absences of Antonio and Rice (knee), who could miss the rest of the season, make his job harder.

It is tough to think of two more influential players for the Irons, and Moyes will be keeping his fingers crossed that Antonio can have a role to play in the run-in.

Derby dealt triple blow

The Easter period was a mixed blessing for Championship strugglers Derby, who picked up three points from two games but suffered injuries to five players.

Forwards Lee Gregory and Martyn Waghorn (both hamstring) and centre-back Matt Clarke (groin) were hurt in last Friday's 2-0 success at home to Luton and right-back Nathan Byrne (head) and attacker Jack Stretton (ankle) were unable to finish Monday's 3-1 defeat at Reading.

The absences of Byrne, Waghorn, Clarke and Stretton are expected to be short but Gregory could miss the rest of the season and Derby's injury crisis comes at a dangerous time with just eight points separating them from third-bottom Rotherham, who have four games in hand.

Wayne Rooney's side are looking threadbare and Saturday's assignment is a daunting clash at home to leaders Norwich.

Millwall missing influential duo

Millwall kept their slim Championship playoff hopes alive with a maximum points return over Easter, winning 1-0 at home to Rotherham and 2-1 away to Stoke, but they will probably have to negotiate the rest of the season without influential centre-back Shaun Hutchinson and powerful centre-forward Matt Smith.

Hutchinson was forced off during the success over Rotherham and Smith has missed the last five games.

Lions manager Gary Rowett admitted that they will be struggling to feature at any point of the run-in.

Three close to Rovers return

Bristol Rovers gave their League One survival hopes a massive boost by coming from behind to win 2-1 at home to Doncaster on Monday and they could be strengthened for Saturday's big relegation showdown with Northampton as they have three players closing in on a first-team return.

Rovers manager Joey Barton has had to get used to selecting from an injury-ravaged squad but he had some good news to tell in the build-up to the trip to Sixfields.

Barton said: "We need all hands on deck. We hopefully have Alex Rodman, Alfie Kilgour and Josh Grant back for Saturday's game."

Winger Rodman (muscle strain) has missed the last six games, while centre-back Kilgour (ankle) and midfielder Grant (foot) were absent over Easter.

Arsenal loanee staying with Southend

Southend need to start scoring some more goals to have any hope of League Two survival so they will be delighted with the confirmation that Arsenal loanee James Olayinka (groin and ankle) will be delaying surgery to stay with them for the rest of the season.

Olayinka's campaign has been ravaged by injuries but he showed glimpses of his ability in December by scoring in a 1-0 success at home to Scunthorpe and a 1-1 draw at Mansfield.

Any more flashes of quality would be greatly appreciated by Shrimpers boss Mark Molesley, who hopes to have Olayinka involved for their weekend clash at home to Crawley.

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