West Ham have been dealt a damning blow with summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko ruled out for up to six months following an Achilles injury.
The Ukrainian, who suffered a similar injury while with Borussia Dortmund, was stretchered off before the break during West Ham's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday.
Yarmolenko, 28, joined from Dortmund for a fee of £17.5million but is now expected to undergo surgery next week before beginning his rehabilitation.
It is the second long term injury of the season for Manuel Pellegrini, who has already lost another summer signing in Carlos Sanchez for at least four months, while Jack Wilshere has suffered a setback in his return from ankle surgery.
Wilshere was set to return to first team action over the next week but following inflammation around the ankle, he is set to remain sidelined until at least November.
As it stands, Pellegrini has Michail Antonio, Robert Snodgrass and youngster Grady Diangana to call on to fill the gap left by Yarmolenko.
