West Ham face up to a month without Manuel Lanzini as star playmaker suffers significant injury setback

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West Ham are facing up to another month without star playmaker Manuel Lanzini with his recovery from a knee injury stalling significantly.

Lanzini has only played 45 minutes this season and is struggling to make progress towards a return, training alone throughout September. 

Tuesday's Carabao Cup clash with Bolton Wanderers would have presented an ideal opportunity to ease the Argentine back in — but manager Slaven Bilic does not expect him back until after the October international break now.

West Ham are facing up to another month without their star playmaker Manuel Lanzini

He has only played 45 minutes this season and is struggling to make progress towards return

Bilic will rest Andy Carroll at the London Stadium, another player plagued by injury trouble, after admitting he cannot call on his striker to play three times in eight days.

But while Carroll's game-time is simply being moderated, Lanzini is not ready at all. He has suffered issues with his movement since being sent home from Argentina's camp last month.

'Lanzini is as close now as he was a couple of days before he started to train before the Newcastle game (in August),' Bilic said.

Slaven Bilic said the club do not want to risk anything with the Argentine's rehab

'He's doing everything but he is not training with us as in one movement he still feels the injury. We don't want to risk it.

'He's going to be definitely be ready after the international break. Will he be ready before, for the Swansea game? Hopefully… is it 100 per cent? No. You have the things that you hoping for — a timetable — and then you have a much more realistic timetable.' 

Bilic believes he needs the creativity of Lanzini, 24, before he can begin to play Carroll in a strike pairing with £16million signing Javier Hernandez.

Javier Hernandez is set for a place on the bench against Bolton but Diafra Sakho will start

For now, he says it is 'almost impossible' to field the two hitmen together upfront.

Carroll will miss Tuesday's game against Bolton while Hernandez is set to be on the bench with Diafra Sakho starting.

'I think about that the most [playing two up front], but it's very hard to put them as their ideal positions as two strikers,' Bilic said.

'It looks good on paper, but then it's very hard to have three at three at the back (in defence). It's almost impossible. Of course, I'm thinking about that.'