When will Kurt Zouma next play for West Ham again after pulling out of Leicester game

Under-fire West Ham defender Kurt Zouma felt dizzy during the warm-up to the game against Leicester and had to be replaced by Issa Diop before kick-off.

Zouma has come under intense scrutiny and pressure after images of him kicking and hitting his cat emerged online.

Since then, he’s been fined two weeks wages coming up to £250,000, being investigated by RSPCA and has seen inflaming calls for him to be sacked totally from his West London club.

The defender behind the scenes has looked remorseful and apologised, even though this has done little to quench the rage from the public.

The French defender’s manager David Moyes has however been unflinching in his support for the 27-year-old, refusing to take him out of the firing line and would have played him at the King Power but for dizziness and the stomach troubles.

When will Kurt Zouma next play for West Ham

The decision to play Zouma against Watford in hindsight was the wrong move from David Moyes, given the outrage he’s since suffered.

There is the feeling that the club could have taken him out of the firing line, ensured he was fined and given the animal education he clearly needs and then slowly reintegrated him back to playing.

He was ruled out of the 2-2 draw with Leicester due to dizziness and a stomach bug, and travelled back to London with the rest of the West Ham team last night.

The team have a recovery session later today, including the players who missed the match, and Zouma will be checked by the club doctor first.

He should be fine for the weekend’s game against a resurgent Newcastle side, who have won their last three games and fired themselves out of the relegation zone.

Even if Zouma is fit for the weekend, West Ham will have to check whether he is psychologically ready for the match after the media attention and public anger.

Why is Moyes so keen on playing Zouma

David Moyes has been adamant the player has been punished and would love the public to draw a line under the incident and move on.

The West Ham boss does not want the season to be defined by this incident, and believes the club have done all they can to ensure the player knows what he did was wrong.

However the Hammers are desperate to swap Europa League football for Champions League action, and their chances for finishing in the top four improve with Zouma on the pitch.

So the decision is to plough through the storm and hope that his performances on the pitch shut out the noise his actions have caused off it.

After the 2-2 draw against Leicester, Moyes said: “Obviously, a player has made a mistake, but there are plenty of managers and players that have made mistakes.

‘Somewhere along the line you always hope there is a little bit of forgiveness and people are willing to accept that they make a mistake in an apology and we hope that’s the case.

“We all make mistakes and we should be willing to give second chances as there is reformation in that too.”

The Hammers blew a chance to cement a fourth position when they failed to take all three points from the King Power, but Craig Dawson’s late goal means they are a point above fifth placed Manchester United even if they have played a game more.