West Ham are preparing for Marko Arnautovic’s absence to be out for as long as six weeks.

The club’s talisman has suffered a muscle injury which had been reported as being set to keep out for up to a month.

But a senior Hammers source has revealed to ClaretandHugh that it COULD be as long as six weeks and that there is no definite time frame on the situation.

Manuel Pellegrini’s appeal to Andy Carroll that he must demonstrate he’s up to getting a new deal and his delight that Lucas Perez has shown some goal scoring form comes at the same time as CandH has received the disappointing Arnie news.

But with Chicharito in the frame as well, things may not be as desperate as they first appeared when injury struck Arnie down on Tuesday night.

However, our source told us by text message: “On Arnie, we’ll know more over the next few weeks. The early estimate is four weeks but it could be six.”