West Ham manager sweating on Diafra Sakho scan ahead of Manchester United clash

Sakho went down injured against West Brom and immediately signalled to be substituted

WEST HAM are sweating on the results of Diafra Sakho's scan and expect to discover the severity of his thigh problem later today.

 

But Hammers boss Slaven Bilic is braced for the worst and admits the Senegalese striker's absence will be a major blow.

"We are still waiting for the results of the scan but it's no good," said Bilic.

"It will definitely not be a couple of weeks so we are looking four to eight weeks, maybe longer.

 

"We are waiting for the opinion of a couple of specialists. It is a thigh injury. He's got a bit of history on that.

"It happened when he had a chance in the second half [against West Brom]. He felt it when he was sprinting but because he's a brave guy he continued for the shot and then he fell down and felt it again.

"It's a muscle injury. It's nothing dangerous for long term or whatever, but it's not a light one unfortunately and we're going to be without him for a few games definitely.

 

Sakho has three goals in the league so far this season, but may now be out for up to two months

"It's a big blow. In terms of quantities of injuries we're not bad, we are OK in that department.

"Unfortunately those three injuries happened to our key players, especially in the offensive side of our game. So [Dimitri] Payet, Sakho, [Enner] Valencia - of course it's a big blow for us."

However Bilic says injuries to his trio of forwards will not force him to recruit attacking reinforcements in January.

 

When questioned if it would, Bilic replied: "Not necessarily. We have strikers, but different strikers, different types.

"I think that we will not try to get someone but in this moment we are not thinking about that. Ok, we're going to have a few meetings and all that - we're going to see."

One player he admits he would like to see join the club on a long-term deal is Argentinian playmaker Manuel Lanzini, who is currently on loan from UAE outfit Al Jazeera Club.

 

"I would like to make his move permanent, of course," Bilic added.

"He's proved himself, he's a key player for us. They way he's playing in most of the games he's been really good for us. He's also missing Payet to be fair.

"Of course I would like him to stay with us and I think, as the chairman has said, he's our player and he's happy here and we are happy with him. I think it's going to be a long relationship with him and West Ham."