West Ham are facing another spell without striker Craig Bellamy after he suffered a recurrence of his abdominal injury. Bellamy, who seemed intent on picking a fight with significantly larger Hreidarsson from the first minute against Portsmouth, came out worst and was subbed at half-time. According to reports today, Bellamy has once again strained his abdominal area.

“He [Bellamy] has an abdominal strain and it’s just getting worse as he is carrying on and it’s obviously something that we have to sort out,” remarked Curbishley after the game.

“He could be weeks out or it could be something that can be sorted out quickly but we have two more games now and then have to worry about the international break again,” he added.

Bellamy is defintely out of the Hammers clash with Coventry in the Carling Cup on Tuesday and seems likely to sit out of their Premiership game with Bolton next weekend. It could be that Bellamy is now rested until after the International break when West Ham entertain Spurs on November 25. With Ashton and Zamora also sidelined, it would appear that Curbishley will have to field a Cole/Camara pairing for their next two matches.