Nuno Espirito Santo has been forced into a major Tomas Soucek decision as West Ham suffer new injury blow ahead of the six-pointer with Burnley.
The Hammers welcome the Clarets to the London Stadium on Saturday knowing only a win will do.
After the superb 3-1 victory over Newcastle last weekend, West Ham have given themselves a chance to climb out of the Premier League’s bottom three when Burnley come to east London.
A 3-0 win for West Ham will see Nuno Espirito Santo’s side leapfrog Burnley on goal difference in the safety of 17th.
The significance of that mentally would be huge going into the last international break of the year.
It would also give the Hammers genuine hope they can avoid relegation from the Premier League after an abysmal start to the season.
Nuno admits fresh West Ham injury doubts for Burnley clash
As always seems to be the case with West Ham, though, things may not be straightforward.
Nuno came in for heavy criticism after a series of bizarre experiments in damaging defeats to Brentford and Leeds before the Newcastle win.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
The Portuguese dropped the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou Magassa.
Nuno started Andy Irving and left-back Ollie Scarles at right-back completely out of the blue – twice. And it backfired badly on both occasions.
The Hammers boss also played without a striker in both games.
Callum Wilson in action for West Ham against his former team Newcastle United
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
He was forced to abandon that early at Leeds when West Ham went 2-0 down after just 13 minutes.
Nuno came to his senses against Newcastle, starting a team most fans agreed with, including bringing in Callum Wilson from the start and giving Freddie Potts his full Premier League bow.
It was arguably West Ham’s best 90-minute performance for the best part of two years.
But there was another experiment during the game which has sparked much debate among Hammers fans.
Now Nuno could be forced into a major Tomas Soucek decision as West Ham suffer a new injury blow.
Nuno’s big Soucek decision as West Ham suffer new injury
Speaking ahead of the Burnley clash, Nuno revealed the game will come too soon for striker Niclas Fullkrug and defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Fullkrug has been out since tearing his thigh in training during the October international break.
The German is back in training but Nuno said he will not be available to play until after the November break.
Wilson is West Ham’s only other senior striker option beyond Fullkrug with young forward Callum Marshall the other.
Nuno has been reluctant to use Wilson until bringing him on as a sub at Leeds when left with no other choice.
Tomas Soucek comes on in the striker role for Callum Wilson in West Ham's win over Newcastle United
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Wilson then got his start against former club Newcastle and it helped West Ham having a proper striker leading the line.
When Wilson was substituted, midfielder Soucek was brought on as an auxiliary striker.
The move actually worked with the big Czech scoring West Ham’s killer third at the death.
Soucek’s height, strength and aerial prowess made him a handful.
Given he has lost his starting spot in midfield, it has opened up the debate whether Soucek should now be considered as a back-up striker option until Nuno can bring in a new forward in the January window.
Well now Nuno is faced with that particular dilemma sooner than many might have thought.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference Nuno revealed some players picked up injuries in the Newcastle game and were doubts for Burnley.
Soucek as striker for West Ham with Wilson a doubt?
The head coach was reluctant to name the players when pressed on who the doubts were.
But Hammers News understands one of them is Wilson.
After starting against the Magpies Wilson may now miss the Burnley game through injury.
Wilson did not train ahead of the match and, given his injury record, is unlikely to be risked if he returns to Rush Green on Friday ahead of Saturday’s clash.
The extent of Wilson’s knock is not known but the situation now hands Nuno a big selection headache.
Lucas Paqueta has his best game for some time and the midfield balance was excellent for West Ham against Newcastle.
So Nuno will be loathe to upset that balance for the Burnley game by moving Paqueta to the false nine role he occupied against Brentford and Leeds.
If Wilson does miss the match, Nuno faces a dilemma of whether to play Soucek as an emergency striker.
Or does he bring young Marshall in from the start?
Many fans felt Soucek actually offers more than Wilson in some respects.
Winning knock-ons, holding the ball up, being a physical nuisance and a target for Diouf’s excellent crosses are big plus points.
His lack of pace and mobility make Soucek something of an Andy Carroll option but at least if he does get a chance, he knows where the goal is.
Wilson is nowhere to be seen in footage released by West Ham ahead of the Burnley game and did not even take part in a finishing drill at the end of the session.
It will be fascinating to see whether Nuno entrusts Soucek with the striker role for such an important game.
One thing is for certain, big Tom will always give his absolute best and won’t let anyone down if he does.