West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen back on grass as he targets early injury return | OneFootball

Hammers boost with Bowen ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken foot

Jarrod Bowen is back on the grass and ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken foot.

But Bowen is progressing well and stepped up his recovery by beginning individual running work with West Ham physios at their Rush Green training ground on Monday.

New Hammers manager Graham Potter explained that the 28-year-old is pushing hard to return early and is ahead of schedule.

Bowen fractured his left foot in the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool on December 29

James Manning/PA Wire

“I think if you speak to Jarrod, he will try to tell you he's ahead of schedule, for sure,” said Potter. “He's doing everything he can to get on the pitch as soon as possible.

“We just need to make sure it's in a safe way and it's [in] a good way for him, because we want to get him back and we want him to stay back.

“But you know Jarrod - he wants to be out there, he wants to play and we're trying to pull the reins on him rather than the other way around. He's fantastic to have around the place.”

Potter added: “He's just champing at the bit and he wants to get out and help. But he just has to take his medicine at the moment and just do his rehab properly.

“He was out jogging today with the individual physio, so it's positive. I think if I'm looking at it now, Jarrod will be ahead of schedule rather than behind schedule. It's not a rocket scientist prediction, that is it really.”

Niclas Fullkrug’s hamstring injury means Danny Ings is the only fit striker in the West Ham squad.

The Hammers are in the market for a new frontman this month, but Potter said: “It's tempting to think there's some guy out there that's going to solve all your problems, but my experience is that it's rarely as easy as that.

“Twenty goals a season, Premier League players in January: there aren't many of them in the world full stop. So therefore to get them in January is even more difficult.”