Winston Reid injury adds to West Ham defensive woes amid transfer search

West Ham will be without Winston Reid for Saturday’s clash at Newcastle, adding to the problems for a side without a win in their first two matches and with seven goals conceded.

Reid injured a calf muscle in the warm-up before their 3-2 defeat at Southampton and although manager Slaven Bilic has since revealed the injury is “not serious”, the central defender will not have recovered in time for the match at St James’ Park.

Reid, who recently signed a new long-term deal, will also miss New Zealand’s two World Cup qualifiers against the Solomon Islands but should be fit to return after the international break for his club’s first home match, against newly-promoted Huddersfield, on September 11.

Bilic sees no need to strengthen the central defensive positions, despite another poor defensive display on Saturday.

“We have enough centre-backs in our team if they stay fit,” he said. “You can’t have eight players in one situation. We have one position we want to fill unless someone else goes and we have to fill in.”

That priority is a defensive midfielder, with West Ham’s bid to sign Portugal international William Carvalho edging closer.

Carvalho’s club, Sporting Lisbon, are holding out for £38million while West Ham’s latest offer is £30m, with another £6m in player-related bonuses. The player is keen on the move and talks are continuing.

West Ham’s defence have taken the brunt of criticism after the first two matches of this season, but the lack of defensive cover in front of them has not helped.

Carvalho, who was outstanding in Portugal’s victorious Euro 2016 campaign, would significantly help to fill that gap, along with the imminent return of Cheikhou Kouyate from injury.

With Sunderland keen on Robert Snodgrass and Newcastle being linked with a move for their former striker Andy Carroll, there could still be more West Ham transfer action before the window closes on Thursday week, with Ghana striker Abdul Majeed Waris being linked with a £12m move from French club Lorient.

One major positive for Bilic following the Southampton defeat was the form of Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, who scored both West Ham goals.

“It’s almost impossible to mark Chicharito because he doesn’t only have one movement and you can lose him,” said the West Ham boss. “We are very pleased that he is our player. He was our target and it was a long shot but we never gave up on him.

“We had to fight with a few other clubs but we were delighted when we did it [the deal] because we knew what we were getting. He showed on Saturday what he is all about.”

Bilic will be far less impressed by another of his new signings, Marko Arnautovic, following his red card for elbowing Jack Stephens.

The forward now misses three games and Bilic said: “I am not going to talk about the red card or the two penalties but I can say it was a big blow for the team to be let down and to play with 10 men for the majority of the game.”