Slaven Bilic has explained that West Ham United’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace on Saturday may be coming a “little too soon” for his side.

With the international break recently coming to an end, several of the Hammers stars are yet to report back to the club after representing their respective countries.




On the other hand, the West Ham players who were not away on international duty, trained hard under the supervision of Bilic during the break.

And the Croatian tactician, who revealed that besides James Collins and Sam Byram, West Ham have no injury problems, still thinks Saturday’s clash against Crystal Palace is coming too early for his liking.
 


"We had a little rest over the international break, then trained hard before another rest", he said in his pre-match press conference.

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"Some of our players are not back from international duty though, so this is why the Palace game may be coming a little too soon.

“James Collins and Sam Byram are still out and will not play against Palace, but they are both progressing really well."

West Ham, who are currently fifth in the Premier League with 50 points from 30 games, just one behind fourth-placed Manchester City, headed into the international break on the back of a 2-2 draw with champions Chelsea.

Bilic’s team won the corresponding fixture against Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park in October.