West Ham have been hit by another injury blow, as striker Diafra Sakho has been ruled out for six to eight weeks, as revealed by manager Slaven Bilic.
The Senegalese striker has not been seen for the Hammers since limping out of their Premier League draw with Manchester United with a thigh injury- a game in which he opened the scoringwith just two minutes on the clock.
SB: "We have a few knocks but are expecting everyone to be fit except for @iamdiafrasakho who will be out for six to eight weeks.
The news came via the club's official Twitter page on Thursday morning, in a tweet that quoted Bilic's words. It is a big blow for the Hammers given the continued struggles of Simone Zaza, and the lack of fitness ofrecently fit again Andy Carroll.
Sakho missed thefirst 11 league games of the season through injury andnow looks setmiss another chunk.
It is has been a torrid season on the injury front for the London Stadium club - Sakhojoins the currently injured contingent ofZaza, Gokhan Tore, Pedro Obiang, Reece Oxford, Sam Byram, and James Collins on the sidelines.
In more unwanted news for Hammers fans, West Ham arereluctantly set to losethreestars to the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, leaving Bilic with a potentially thread-bare squad in January.
Cheikhou Kouyate, Andre Ayew, And Sofiane Feghouli are expected to represent Senegal, Ghana and Algeria respectively at the tournament, which will run for three weeks from January 14.
News of Sakho's injury lay-off could prompt Bilic to make use of the January transfer window, a concept the Croatian has previously criticised.The struggling Hammers have seemingly been linked with a host of players, as the club look to stave of a disastrous fate of relegation.