West Ham wait on Arnautovic fitness ahead of Chelsea clash

West Ham face a waiting game over Marko Arnautovic’s fitness for the London derby against Chelsea this weekend, with Manuel Pellegrini ‘hoping’ his star man will be fit.

The Austrian, who has three Premier League goals this season, has been receiving treatment for a knee problem which has seen him forced off at both Arsenal and during the win over Everton last weekend.

Despite the arrivals of Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko, Arnautovic - who won three individual awards in his first season at the club following a dramatic turnaround in form under David Moyes - remains the talisman at London Stadium.

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The Hammers will also be without Jack Wilshere for the first time this season after the former Arsenal midfielder underwent surgery on a long standing ankle issue on Monday. He is expected to be out for up to six weeks.

Despite Chelsea's perfect start to the season under Maurizio Sarri, Pellegrini will be bouyed by West Ham's home record against the Blues with three wins from the last four meetings in east London.

Pellegrini has also revealed that Jack Wilshere was 'very upset' following his latest injury setback, but has backed him to make a full recovery.

The former Arsenal midfielder, who joined West Ham on a free transfer over the summer, is set to miss up to six weeks following surgery on a problem in his ankle.

Pellegrini added that there had been an issue with a screw in Wilshere's ankle which had caused the 26-year-old pain and the decision was taken to act.

Having spoken to Wilshere, Pellegrini is confident that, given his experience with injuries, the midfielder will make a full recovery.

"The doctor can say more about it than me but he has a screw in his ankle, from the last surgery he had some years ago, maybe it made some movements so they had to take it and out and we will see how many weeks he is out for," Pellegrini said.

"I spoke with him before he started the week. He felt the pain in his ankle and we hope he will recover as soon as he can.

"He was working so well that of course he was very upset about what happened.

"He is a player, who maybe is not too old, but he has a lot of experience with injury so I hope he will know about what is the best way to recover as soon as he can."

Wilshere is expected to return following the next international break.