West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic is due to have a scan on the hand injury he sustained in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Watford.
The early indication was that Arnautovic had suffered a broken thumb, which could keep him out for several weeks.
His absence will be a blow to David Moyes, who admitted he expected more from his players in his first game as West Ham manager.
Moyes was without attacking trio Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez (both hamstring) and Andre Ayew (illness) for the game at Vicarage Road. Antonio and Ayew are likely to return for Friday night’s home game against Leicester but Hernandez is a major doubt.
Moyes’s hopes of a winning start in his 500th Premier League game as a manager were dashed by goals from Will Hughes and Richarlison.
West Ham midfielder Pedro Obiang, meanwhile, believes that hard work on the training pitch is the way to improve things.
He said: “It is too easy to talk about the chances we missed at Watford.
“There is only one way to sort things out. We have started to do different work but the manager has to have time to get his ideas across.”
