Marked by injury: Noble ruled out for season

West Ham midfielder Mark Noble is set to have an operation on the nerve damage in his shoulder which has kept him out of the club's last three games- and will be ruled out for the rest of the season, the Sun are reporting this morning. This is terrible news for Hammers boss Sam Allardyce, who already has several notable casualties on his hands and with winger Matty Taylor revealing this morning that he is walking wounded and played against Chelsea on Sunday with a fractured jaw. 25 year old local boy Noble has been one of the Irons' shining lights this season and West Ham now have a very serious dilemma in central midfield, with the extent of captain Kevin Nolan's toe injury not yet clear and with no estimated return date apparent.

Hammers co-chairman David Gold tells a different story however, tweeting yesterday that "We must regroup and prepare ourselves for a big and important game against WBA. The good news is that we could have a fully fit squad."

We'll keep you bang up to date, as ever, with all the latest on this as soon as we hear it.

By Alex Shilling, News Editor

@alexshilling