CAT-KICKER Kurt Zouma will start for West Ham against Newcastle after returning from illness.
The Frenchman was due to start in the Hammers’ last Premier League outing against Leicester.
But he pulled out before kick-off due to illness and was replaced by Issa Diop, who turned in a Man of the Match worthy performance.
West Ham boss David Moyes believes the defender is ‘really disappointed’ with his actions which saw him kick and slap his cat, sparking outrage.
The incident was filmed by his brother Yoan and the cats were taken by the RSPCA.
Zouma was also slapped with the maximum fine of £250,000 by his club.
On Zouma, Moyes said: “I think he’s probably really disappointed about what he’s done and he’s thinking about it a lot, no doubt, but overall we have tried to get him to move on.
“We want him to concentrate on his training. He played very well for us against Watford the other week there, so we’re hoping that we can keep him at those levels of performance – we’ll be pleased with that.
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“He’s really well-liked here amongst the supporters, the performances he’s put in throughout the season already, so hopefully he can focus on his football and we’ll give him as much support as we can until we get him right back to his best.”
The Hammers are in desperate need of a win to keep their top four hopes alive.
A win takes West Ham temporarily up to fourth in the league, one point above Manchester United.
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