Lucas Paquetá will see a specialist for further assessment on a calf injury that will keep the West Ham midfielder out for four weeks.
David Moyes is dealing with a selection crisis in attack after Michail Antonio suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury and Jarrod Bowen and Paquetá limped off during West Ham’s 1-1 draw with Bristol City in the FA Cup. Mohammed Kudus, who has a hamstring injury, is due to represent Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations.
A front three of Bowen, Kudus and Paquetá has taken West Ham to sixth place in the Premier League but Moyes will need to come up with a fresh plan. Bowen, who hurt an ankle during added time against Bristol City, and Paquetá underwent scans on their injuries earlier this week and the results were not positive.
West Ham will hope that the setbacks do not hinder their push for European qualification. But Paquetá is not expected to play again this month and it is unclear when Bowen, who has scored 14 goals and forced his way into the England squad this season, will be back.
Paquetá, who has five goals and six assists in all competitions this season, has been struggling since hurting himself during the warm-up before West Ham’s win over Arsenal on 28 December. He started the game before going off in the first half and was absent when Moyes’s side drew with Brighton last week.
Paquetá trained before the Bristol City game, started the tie and created a goal for Bowen after four minutes. However he limped off in the 14th minute after the calf injury flared up again. The Brazil international is set to miss next week’s replay at Ashton Gate and could be absent for Premier League games against Sheffield United, Bournemouth, Manchester United and Arsenal.
The Brazilian wants to get to the root of the problem and has sought specialist help. He works with a personal physio, who has travelled to London to see the former Lyon player. In the meantime Moyes has Saïd Benrahma, Maxwel Cornet, Pablo Fornals, Danny Ings and Divin Mubama to choose from in attack. West Ham are also sweating on the fitness of Konstantinos Mavropanos after the Greece defender suffered a rib injury against Bristol City.
