New West Ham recruit Xande Silva has suffered an injury setback after pulling his hamstring which could leave him out of action for up to six weeks.

Silva had been in fine form in the Under 23’s since he joined in the summer from Portuguese second-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes for a reported £1.8m.

The versatile attacker already scored a hat-trick against Spurs Under-23s side, while he assisted another against Brighton on Friday night. He had been spotted in club website released photos training with the first team and taking direct instruction from Manuel Pellegrini over the International break which led to speculation that Pellegrini was considering his promotion to the first team match day squad.

The 21-year-old was missing from the Premier League 2 side’s game against Chelsea on Saturday and faces rehabilitation before he can check his chance again to impress the gaffer.