Marko Arnautovic has been ruled out for three weeks, dealing West Ham a huge blow to their attacking options with Manuel Lanzini already sidelined for at least a month.
Arnautovic and Lanzini have been pivotal in West Ham’s resurgence, with the pair directly involved in five of the Hammers’ eight Premier League goals this year.
However, West Ham will now be without Arnautovic for four games due to a hamstring problem. The Austria forward played with the injury against Bournemouth on Saturday but will miss the FA Cup tie at Wigan on Saturday plus Premier League clashes against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Watford.
Lanzini was withdrawn just after the hour against Bournemouth with what David Moyes suspected was also a hamstring problem, and a scan has revealed the Argentine faces a longer lay‑off.
Until now Moyes had maintained the forward line was the only area of his squad with depth to see them through the season.
However, with Andy Carroll sidelined for three months after surgery on his broken foot, Michail Antonio still a way off a return from a groin problem and questions over the fitness and futures of Andre Ayew and especially Diafra Sakho, Moyes is left threadbare up-front.
West Ham fixtures
Games Arnautovic & Lazini will miss
vs Wigan (Fa Cup)
vs Crystal Palace
vs Brighton
vs Watford
Having survived clashes with Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham over the festive period and New Year, the Hammers now go into a run against teams around them in the table with limited choices in attack.
One remaining, fully fit, option is Javier Hernandez. The summer signing scored the equaliser at the London Stadium on Saturday, his first goal in all competitions since October.
However, the 29-year-old has struggled for form since his £16million move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, and is growing increasingly frustrated with his game time under Moyes.
