West Ham are already without one of their front-line strikers for the visit of Brighton tomorrow night, and they could be without another.
Sky Sports have confirmed that Javier Hernandez underwent a scan on his hamstring on Tuesday after the striker pulled up during a training session, but the severity of the injury is still unknown but is not thought to be serious.
After Andy Carroll was sent off in the first-half of the 1-1 draw at Burnley last weekend for two hefty aerial challenges 99 second apart, the potential loss of Hernandez would see West Ham left with just Diafra Sakho as a senior striking option.
Both Michail Antonio and Andre Ayew have spent time playing off the central striker during their West Ham careers and if Hernandez can’t play then either player could operate in a more advanced role on Friday night to fill the void.
Slaven Bilic’s only other option is to promote 20-year-old striker Toni Martinez from the U23 squad. The Spaniard has netted 23 goals in 26 games for the U23 side and scored three in 17 games during a loan spell with Oxford United last season.
There have been calls from the fans to see Martinez handed a first-team debut in the near future and Friday could be the perfect opportunity to do so against a struggling Brighton side at home.
