Jack Wilshere's injury hands Manuel Pellegrini the chance to build West Ham core

The absence of one of your flagship summer signings after a month of the new season is never good news, though for West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini Jack Wilshere’s injury gives him the chance to find a settled midfield.

Wilshere, who arrived on a free transfer in east London over the summer after leaving Arsenal, will be out for up to six weeks following surgery on a long-standing ankle issue.

While the midfielder will have to sit out London derbies against Chelsea and Tottenham, the international break in October will limit the amount of game time missed.

Following four defeats from their opening four Premier League games, the Hammers impressed in picking up their much-needed first win at Everton on Sunday.

While summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko stole the headlines, perhaps the biggest positive for Pellegrini was the performance of his midfield.

Having struggled with various combinations in a two in previous games, the Chilean opted to introduce a three of Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang, all of whom were named on the bench in the defeat against Wolves.

Games Wilshere could miss

Chelsea (H)

Macclesfield (H)

Manchester United (H)

Brighton (A)

International break

Tottenham (H)

Leicester (A)

They were controlling and calm on the ball and their balanced blend of grit, energy and experience offered protection to a back line still settling and offered a solid base for the three ahead.

Given there will be no temptation to introduce Wilshere back into the fold in the coming weeks, and the fact that Carlos Sanchez has shown no signs of being someone trusted to start for Pellegrini, the trio have the chance to form a competent midfield.

After a career dogged by injuries the hope is that tackling Wilshere’s ankle problem with surgery now alleviates the issue further down the line after the 26-year-old was handed a three-year-deal by West Ham.

He has struggled to make in impact in his early days at the club, however, with this problem softened and the competition posed by a well-run and confident midfield in just over a month’s time could leave him in the right position to finally kick-start this new era in his career.