West Ham Dealt Fresh Injury Blow as James Collins Suffers Setback in Ankle Recovery Plan

West Ham have been dealt a fresh injury blow after James Collins' long awaited return from a lengthy lay-off was hit by yet another setback.

The Hammers centre-back has spent the past two months on the treatment table with an ankle injury, and had been pencilled in to start building up his match fitness with the club's Under-23s against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday.

However, Collins lasted just 24 minutes of the eventual 2-0 defeat as he was forced off the field with an unknown issue after a West Ham fan Twitter account published an image of him heading down the tunnel:

Collins has been plagued by a number of niggling injuries and strains since the start of the 2013/14 campaign, with two hamstring problems forcing him to miss extensive periods for the Irons.

His latest issue will give new boss David Moyes even more of a selection headache in the centre of his defence, with only Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna fit and available in those positions.

Fellow centre-half Jose Fonte is also sidelined through injury and, whilst the likes of midfield duo Cheikhou Kouyate and Pedro Obiang can fill in at the back, their addition to the back four is seen as a last resort by West Ham if their injury crisis continues.

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Marko Arnautovic, Sam Byram and Javier Hernandez are also unavailable for selection ahead of Moyes' reunion with former club Everton on Wednesday, and the Scot will be desperate to get one over his old side.

The Toffees have shipped nine goals in their last two matches and are currently languishing in 16th place in the Premier League table.

Moyes, who has never won in four meetings with the Blues since he left in May 2014, will hope to further compound their misery with a possible win at Goodison Park that would ease his own team's relegation fears.