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West Ham are sweating on the fitness of Andy Carroll amid fears he is out two to four months with his latest injury.

The club are hopeful that the extent of the setback is nothing more than a twisted ankle, which they feel would rule Carroll out for two to four weeks.

There are, however, concerns that lightning may have struck twice for the luckless England frontman.

And the Hammers now face an anxious wait to see how his ankle responds to treatment over the next few days.

The worst-case scenario would see 25-year-old Carroll missing a large part of the first half of the season - just as he did in 2013-14.

He had already been ruled out of both the club's games on their pre-season trip to New Zealand.

MirrorSport understands West Ham had been targeting even more firepower up front even before Carroll's injury. They will now step up their search.

Mauro Zarate, an Argentinian striker signed from Velez Sarsfield this summer, netted the consolation in the Hammers' 2-1 loss to Wellington Phoenix on Wednesday.