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A Real Hammer Blow At Upton Park

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The news coming out of the Boleyn Ground this week that midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger is out for a minimum of four months with a thigh injury will come as a bitter blow to the side languishing at the bottom of the Premier League with 6 points from their first 8 games.

The Germany midfielder, 28, was Avram Grant’s first signing as West Ham manager and appeared to be integral to Grant’s plans for the club, featuring heavily in an impressive unbeaten pre-season for the Hammers, even notching a goal with a trademark free-kick against Panathanikos.

But having been left out of Joachim Löw’s World Cup squad, Hitzlsperger was recalled by Germany in early August to face Denmark in an international friendly where, as captain, he sustained a thigh muscle injury in the 2-2 draw which kept him out of the early stages of the Premier League season. Having worked hard to get back to fitness, Hitzlsperger was confident of facing Wolves in the bottom-of-the-table clash at Molineux on Saturday, but suffered a reoccurrence of the thigh injury in training and optimistic estimates see him returning to first team action in early 2011.

Although on a five match unbeaten streak in all competitions, the east London outfit remain bottom of the league, and this prolonged absence of what could have been a key member of the starting eleven will not aid matters. In a midfield saturated with players prone to long term injuries, such as Luis Boa Morte, Scott Parker, Kieron Dyer and Valon Behrami, West Ham can ill-afford another lengthy absentee from the midfield to join Jack Collison and Junior Stanislas on the treatment table.

Hitzlsperger, signed from Lazio on a free transfer in the summer, has appeared over 50 times for his country, including one in the final of the European Championships in 2008 against Spain, and has a Bundesliga title to his name. This kind of experience could yet prove vital towards the end of the season for a West Ham side whose principal priority is survival, but for now the Hammers will have to do without ‘Der Hammer’ and hope that fatigue and injuries are kind to them over the winter months. If not, as the nights close in and the temperature drops, it may be a long winter of discontent in east London before they can call upon their talismanic German midfielder to steady the ship.

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