West Ham have received a major boost, with Lucas Paqueta back in first-team training ahead of this weekend’s trip to Nottingham Forest.

No decision has yet been made over whether the Brazilian will be ready to feature at the City Ground, with manager David Moyes likely to make a late call after training on Friday.

However, with the Hammers then not in action for another nine days until travelling to Brentford a week on Monday, the playmaker’s time on the sidelines appears to be almost at an end.

Paqueta has not featured since limping off early in the 1-1 FA Cup third round draw with Bristol City at the start of January.

On that occasion, the midfielder had only just returned from a calf issue picked up in the win at Arsenal in December and suffered a recurrence.

As a result, the club are likely to take a cautious approach with his latest comeback but Moyes is in desperate need of a spark to lift his team out of their desperate run of form.

The Hammers’s winless run now stretches back seven matches in all competitions, coinciding with Paqueta’s absence, and they have struggled badly for balance in attack, scoring just four times during that streak.