Weekend Briefing: Premier League & EFL injuries, suspensions and team news

West Ham light on attacking numbers for visit of Leicester

Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that Javier Hernandez is a major doubt for West Ham's meeting with Leicester on Saturday.

The Mexican front man has sustained an ear problem which ruled him out of training earlier this week. Marko Arnautovic is the most likely to deputise in his absence.

Hernandez, who has started the last two games for the Hammers, is not the only notable absentee for the match with the Foxes.

Samir Nasri has missed their last three fixtures with a calf injury while Manuel Lanzini is recovering from a groin concern he picked up in defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend.

There will be a late decision made on Jack Wilshere's involvement. The former Arsenal midfielder has returned to training with the senior squad.

Champions League heroes could be stretched for Manchester City rematch

Mauricio Pochettino labelled his Spurs players "heroes" for their Champions League defeat of Manchester City but he could face a selection headache when the sides square up again in the league on Saturday.

Moussa Sissoko was forced off in the match at the Etihad, having hit the deck on a number of occasions following a tussle with Kevin De Bruyne, and his groin injury is being looked at before the return trip to Manchester.

Erik Lamela missed the pulsating second leg and is also due to have his hamstring issue assessed but Harry Winks (groin) and Serge Aurier (hamstring) remain sidelined.

Harry Kane is expected to miss the remainder of Tottenham's season but the club have confirmed he has started rehabilitation following his ankle injury.

Injury crisis threatens Sheffield United's promotion prospects

Sheffield United have dropped points against Birmingham and Millwall in recent weeks and their hopes of landing an automatic promotion berth are hindered by a catalogue of absences.

Chris Wilder will be without Billy Sharp, the club's top scorer with 23 league goals, and Chris Basham for the visit of Nottingham Forest.

The Blades were already a man light in defence after John Egan was suspended for a deliberate handball in the draw with Millwall.

Sharp and Basham left the field in the same game with hamstring injuries and dilute United's chances against Martin O'Neill's men.

Young guns could get their chance for Blackburn

Blackburn were one of the first teams in the EFL guaranteed to be playing in the same division next season. The Championship side confirmed their safety with victory over Nottingham Forest last time out and Tony Mowbray revealed he could hand professional debuts to a number of Academy graduates in the final weeks.

Tyler Magloire and John Buckley have been on the fringes of regular action recently and could be in contention to feature against QPR along with Dan Butterworth and Jacob Davenport.

Sheffield Wednesday boosted for trip to Championship table-toppers

Norwich are in hot pursuit of the Sky Bet Championship title but they will be wary of a Sheffield Wednesday outfit boosted by the returns of two key players for the game at Carrow Road.

Steve Bruce revealed that both striker Lucas Joao, who has scored nine league goals for the Owls this campaign, and defender Dominic Iorfa are fit and could feature in the trip to Norfolk.

Wednesday have struggled with a handful of injuries in the last two seasons and Bruce was confident of amending the issue, saying "I am hoping that with a good pre-season, and different methods, that can help them."

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport