West Ham hit by Lucas Paqueta blow with star ruled OUT of Arsenal clash as Hammers’ injury crisis deepens

Lucas Paqueta will miss West Ham’s next two games with an ankle injury as Graham Potter’s attacking crisis deepens.

The Brazilian rolled his ankle after a collision with team-mate Aaron Wan-Bissaka in training on Tuesday was removed from the session to be assessed by the medics.

Hammers boss Potter confirmed Paqueta would miss the trip to Arsenal on Saturday and likely their clash against Leicester next week.

‘It was a training incident really, just an innocuous one, he went over on his ankle and there was a little bit of a collision with Aaron Wan Bissaka,’ said Potter. ‘He’ll be missing for the game, probably Leicester as well, so we’ll see how he is, but he’s swollen up a bit. I’ll take it day by day, but I would imagine a week or two he’ll be away.’

Paqueta has only just returned to action after missing the defeat at Chelsea with a groin strain having been a key player since Graham Potter took charge.

Potter remains without Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug until after the international break with hamstring injuries while captain Jarrod Bowen is only just returning from a fractured foot.

Hammers boss Graham Potter is also without Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug

Evan Ferguson is set for his chance after impressing as a substitute in the defeat by Brentford

Evan Ferguson is in line for his first start after impressing off the bench in the defeat by Brentford following his loan move from Brighton.

‘He came on and had a good impact,, we just need to be careful with him in terms of how we’re building him up, the minutes he plays. Playing 90 minutes is probably a bit of a step I would say, so as I said, just need to be, just take him forward in the right way, safely for him, hasn’t played a lot of minutes over a period of time.

‘But he’s training really well and he’s fitting into the group really well, which is what we thought he would, so he’s ready to help and then we just decide what’s the right thing for him and the team. I guess with him, see if he can get a good performance himself, but is it also him making other players better around him.’

West Ham have just one win from their five Premier League games under Potter and have slipped to 16th, two places lower than when predecessor Julen Lopetegui was sacked.

While the club remain 10 points clear of the drop, Potter insists his side cannot rule themselves out of being in a relegation battle.

‘No, until you’ve got the points you need you have to be focused and respect the competition and respect the league,’ said Potter. ‘We’re focused and fighting for every point we can.

‘We haven’t got enough that we want at the moment so we need to do better, we need to improve that. The only way you do that is to start by the next game, focus on Arsenal, it’s a massive game, it’s a big game, it’s a tough game.’