West Ham expect major Diame blow

Diame was forced to leave the pitch 17 minutes from time during Sunday's 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool and Allardyce expects to be without the summer recruit from Wigan Athletic for some time.

He said: "It looks like he will be out for a while. You can tell by the way he went down that it is a big tear and it is now up to the medical staff to recover him as quickly as they can.

"I would expect, in medical terms, for it to be a grade 3 (injury) and that could be anything up to eight, 10 or 12 weeks."

Diame had impressed in his first few months with the Hammers, with talk of a possible move away in January already doing the rounds, with club co-owner David Gold having confirmed that the midfielder has a release clause in his contract.

Manager Allardyce refused to comment on Diame's situation, but made the general point: "There's always a situation where you're powerless to keep a player because of the size of the price. You can't turn it down."

West Ham, who are currently 11th in the Premier League table, are 25/1 to be relegated this season and 22/1 to finish in the top six.

Next up for the Irons is a trip to West Brom next Sunday, with West Ham 5/2 to secure a draw at The Hawthorns and 7/2 to keep a clean sheet.

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