West Ham's Payet in line to face Liverpool

The France midfielder, 28, was expected to be sidelined until February after damaging ankle ligaments in the 1-1 draw with Everton on November 7, but he has recovered ahead of schedule.

"Is he in contention to start? Yes," Bilic told a press conference on Thursday.

"He is back, he's been training with us for a couple of days and depending on how he does today, I'm expecting him to be in the squad and available for the game.

"We will see how much he is going to participate in the game, but he is back and it's a great boost for us."

Payet made an impressive start to life in England after signing from Marseille, scoring five goals and supplying three assists in his first 12 Premier League matches before injury derailed him.

His form helped West Ham rise to the Champions League places, but they went eight games without victory prior to Monday's 2-1 win over Southampton.