Dean Ashton has been ruled out of action for the next six weeks after straining knee ligaments during last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
It was confirmed immediately after the game - West Ham's third successive Premier League defeat - that Ashton has once again broken down and was almost certainly out of this weekend's England matches in which he was expected to make his full international debut.But the worst-case-scenario was confirmed earlier today by head physio George Cooper, who told whufc.com:
"We received the results of Dean's scan and they were what we expected - which is that he had sprained the upper third of his medial ligament.
"In the majority of cases it will take up to six weeks for full recovery."
Ashton - who joined the Hammers from Norwich City in January 2006 has made just 24 appearances in his 21 months with West Ham, scoring nine goals in the process.
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