West Ham United midfielder Mark Noble looks set to miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder operation, according to Sky Sports.

The influential midfielder has been out for more than a month with a trapped nerve in his shoulder and it now looks likely he needs surgery to solve the problem following a setback.

Huge Blow

The Englishman’s last game was the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa, when he came off in the 76th minute, and his loss will be a huge blow to manager Sam Allardyce as he bids to ensure early Premier League safety.

The Hammers are already missing captain Kevin Nolan, who has a broken little toe and Joe Cole, with a hamstring injury. Furthermore, Matt Taylor played against Chelsea with a fractured jaw adding to the club’s injury problems.

Neither Noble, Nolan nor Cole trained in the week leading up to the Stamford Bridge clash and have not trained with the first team this week either.

Sam Allardyce said “Even though we’ve had two weeks since our last game it looks like none will have recovered in time.”

Relegation Battle

But Noble will only play a small, if any part in that run, as the club fight to stay up in their first season back in the Premier League.

Doctors say that the operation is likely to rule the 25 year old out for a month, meaning he faces an uphill battle to return before the end of the campaign.

Allardyce had hoped that resting Noble may have helped his shoulder but an operation is likely to take place tomorrow, as the club want him fully fit as soon as possible.