West Ham United star Vladimir Coufal has confirmed the reason for his shock last minute absence against Brighton.

The West Ham team for the clash with Brighton has been named and there was an unwelcome surprise for fans.

As we reported earlier West Ham were expected to be without Lucas Paqueta and captain Kurt Zouma as well as AFCON duo Mohammed Kudus and Nayef Aguerd.

But there was further bad news for West Ham when one of their best players this season – Vladimir Coufal – was nowhere to be seen either.

Conspiracy theorists started pondering whether Coufal’s absence was linked to his reported anger at having not being handed improved terms and a longer contract at the London Stadium.

But West Ham star Coufal has confirmed the reason for his shock last minute absence against Brighton.

Taking to his Instagram Stories, Coufal said he is the latest victim of the flu in the Hammers squad.