West Ham are hoping that star man Dimitri Payet could be back in early January, as manager Slaven Bilic looks to halt a run of seven matches without a win.

Payet, who was outstanding in West Ham’s impressive start to the season, has been sorely missed since he suffered an ankle injury against Everton on November 7.

Since then West Ham, who have suffered injuries to other offensive players such as Enner Valencia, Diafra Sakho, Manuel Lanzini, Victor Moses and Andy Carroll, have drawn all but one of their five Premier League matches, scoring just twice.

Player Ratings: Swansea City vs West Ham 23 show all Player Ratings: Swansea City vs West Ham 1/23 Lukasz Fabianski: 6 Even quieter than his opposite number, making no saves from efforts inside the area in the first 75 minutes. When he was then called into action by Valencia he was more than a match for his swerving effort. 2015 Getty Images 2/23 Angel Rangel: 6 As it became clear that West Ham had nothing to offer in attack he became more involved in attacking areas but stood out for his defensive work, capably keeping Zarate in wide areas where he couldn’t really impact the game. 2015 Getty Images 3/23 Federico Fernandez: 6 A neat and tidy display in the Swansea backline he set the tone for Swansea’s game with accurate passing and composed positioning when West Ham attempted to counter. 2015 Getty Images 4/23 Ashley Williams: 7 The imposing force of the early season seems to be on his way back as Williams comfortably dealt with the limited threats caused by Jelavic. Dominant in the air and calm with the ball there was little West Ham could do to test him. 5/23 Neil Taylor: 6 Swansea’s most reliable outlet going forward, his delivery was consistently right on the mark. It was hardly his fault that his tem-mates rarely looked like making the most of it. 2015 Getty Images 6/23 Leon Britton: 6 Brought back the reassuring composure on the ball that Swansea enjoyed for so many years when he was a regular. His passing was neat and accurate and helped the hosts dictate the course of the game. 2015 Getty Images 7/23 Jack Cork: 6 A quiet day for one of Swansea’s more defensively minded midfielders, but he scarcely put a foot wrong. His perfectly-hit volley on the hour mark was one of the few moments of technical excellence in an abysmal match. 8/23 Ki Sung-Yeung: 6 Brought important drive and running from deep to what was otherwise a static Swans side, looking to push beyond the front two at any opportunity. He gave the ball away a lot but often this was because he was trying to make the pass that would count. 9/23 Gylfi Sigurdsson: 5 Flitted around and made a few nice touches, but rarely if ever looked like playing a pass of any significance. As the game wore on he became ever more peripheral just when Swansea needed him to unlock West Ham’s backline. 10/23 Andre Ayew: 6 Seemed out of position in a front two but at times this worked to his advantage as West Ham failed to pick him up in dangerous areas. He found space in and outside the area intelligently, Alan Curtis would have wished he had done more with it. 2015 Getty Images 11/23 Bafetimbi Gomis: 4 How one player can be caught offside so often truly beggars belief. When he actually picked up the ball in legal positions he combined well with his team-mates, but consistently being flagged for offside is completely unacceptable from a pacey, powerful forward such as Gomis. 12/23 Adrian: 6 For all Swansea’s glut of possession it’s hard to remember more than two significant saves Adrian had to make. Both came from Ki and on each occasion he did well. 2015 Getty Images 13/23 James Tomkins: 5 Was evidently a centre-back masquerading as a wide defender. Time and time again he gave Taylor the space to pick out a cross whilst he brought nothing to West Ham’s limited options going forward. 2015 Getty Images 14/23 James Collins: 6 Typified a West Ham gameplan where physicality was not to be found wanting but skill and composure was. Of course no-one expects that from the Welsh centre-back but is it too unreasonable to ask that he doesn’t fire every ball that comes his way into Row Z? Effective but dreary. 2015 Getty Images 15/23 Angelo Ogbonna: 6 Gomis consistently overpowered Ogbonna in their battles on the deck and in the air, with the former Juventus man hardly exuding confidence throughout. However on the one occasion it might matter, when Gomis looked breaking through on the hour mark. 2015 Getty Images 16/23 Aaron Cresswell: 5 Another full-back who might reasonably be expected to bomb on given Swansea’s midfield diamond offered space in front of him. But he was rarely seen outside his own half, where his defensive work was admittedly strong, leaving West Ham short on numbers going forward. 2015 Getty Images 17/23 Mark Noble: 5 Dispossessed with ease by an opponent on more than occasion this was not a vintage display from Noble, whose poor passing was a large part of why West Ham struggled to get forward on the counter. 2015 Getty Images 18/23 Alex Song: 5 His natty boots, emblazoned with the phrase ‘Pow’, must have been distracting him. He rarely broke into so much as an amble except to hack down an opponent. The cultured ball-player of his Arsenal days seems long gone. 2015 Getty Images 19/23 Michail Antonio: 6 The only West Ham player who might emerge with much in the way of credit after a hard-working display in which he always looked to force chances. There’s a chasm between Antonio and the likes of Dimitri Payet in creativity but he at least attempted to bridge that. 20/23 Cheikhou Kouyate: 5 The stats will doubtless show how he covered a great many kilometres but it’s hard to remember a single moment in which he made a notable contribution to the game. 2015 Getty Images 21/23 Mauro Zarate: 5 As is so often the case on his bad days Zarate was guilty of dribbling down blind alleys, presumably in the sincere belief that he would be the one to make the difference. It never did. 2015 Getty Images 22/23 Nikica Jelavic: 5 Left to feed off scraps by his team-mates and yet somehow still managed to look unimpressive despite such limited time in the limelight. An Asda Andy Carroll he was comfortably kept in check by Williams and Fernandez. 2015 Getty Images 23/23 Enner Valencia: 6 An enjoyable cameo from the Ecuadorian, who had West Ham’s first effort of note on 75 minutes. It’s worth noting that after his introduction the visitors actually looked like they might score; in no small part thanks to his direct running and eye for goal. Getty 1/23 Lukasz Fabianski: 6 Even quieter than his opposite number, making no saves from efforts inside the area in the first 75 minutes. When he was then called into action by Valencia he was more than a match for his swerving effort. 2015 Getty Images 2/23 Angel Rangel: 6 As it became clear that West Ham had nothing to offer in attack he became more involved in attacking areas but stood out for his defensive work, capably keeping Zarate in wide areas where he couldn’t really impact the game. 2015 Getty Images 3/23 Federico Fernandez: 6 A neat and tidy display in the Swansea backline he set the tone for Swansea’s game with accurate passing and composed positioning when West Ham attempted to counter. 2015 Getty Images 4/23 Ashley Williams: 7 The imposing force of the early season seems to be on his way back as Williams comfortably dealt with the limited threats caused by Jelavic. Dominant in the air and calm with the ball there was little West Ham could do to test him. 5/23 Neil Taylor: 6 Swansea’s most reliable outlet going forward, his delivery was consistently right on the mark. It was hardly his fault that his tem-mates rarely looked like making the most of it. 2015 Getty Images 6/23 Leon Britton: 6 Brought back the reassuring composure on the ball that Swansea enjoyed for so many years when he was a regular. His passing was neat and accurate and helped the hosts dictate the course of the game. 2015 Getty Images 7/23 Jack Cork: 6 A quiet day for one of Swansea’s more defensively minded midfielders, but he scarcely put a foot wrong. His perfectly-hit volley on the hour mark was one of the few moments of technical excellence in an abysmal match. 8/23 Ki Sung-Yeung: 6 Brought important drive and running from deep to what was otherwise a static Swans side, looking to push beyond the front two at any opportunity. He gave the ball away a lot but often this was because he was trying to make the pass that would count. 9/23 Gylfi Sigurdsson: 5 Flitted around and made a few nice touches, but rarely if ever looked like playing a pass of any significance. As the game wore on he became ever more peripheral just when Swansea needed him to unlock West Ham’s backline. 10/23 Andre Ayew: 6 Seemed out of position in a front two but at times this worked to his advantage as West Ham failed to pick him up in dangerous areas. He found space in and outside the area intelligently, Alan Curtis would have wished he had done more with it. 2015 Getty Images 11/23 Bafetimbi Gomis: 4 How one player can be caught offside so often truly beggars belief. When he actually picked up the ball in legal positions he combined well with his team-mates, but consistently being flagged for offside is completely unacceptable from a pacey, powerful forward such as Gomis. 12/23 Adrian: 6 For all Swansea’s glut of possession it’s hard to remember more than two significant saves Adrian had to make. Both came from Ki and on each occasion he did well. 2015 Getty Images 13/23 James Tomkins: 5 Was evidently a centre-back masquerading as a wide defender. Time and time again he gave Taylor the space to pick out a cross whilst he brought nothing to West Ham’s limited options going forward. 2015 Getty Images 14/23 James Collins: 6 Typified a West Ham gameplan where physicality was not to be found wanting but skill and composure was. Of course no-one expects that from the Welsh centre-back but is it too unreasonable to ask that he doesn’t fire every ball that comes his way into Row Z? Effective but dreary. 2015 Getty Images 15/23 Angelo Ogbonna: 6 Gomis consistently overpowered Ogbonna in their battles on the deck and in the air, with the former Juventus man hardly exuding confidence throughout. However on the one occasion it might matter, when Gomis looked breaking through on the hour mark. 2015 Getty Images 16/23 Aaron Cresswell: 5 Another full-back who might reasonably be expected to bomb on given Swansea’s midfield diamond offered space in front of him. But he was rarely seen outside his own half, where his defensive work was admittedly strong, leaving West Ham short on numbers going forward. 2015 Getty Images 17/23 Mark Noble: 5 Dispossessed with ease by an opponent on more than occasion this was not a vintage display from Noble, whose poor passing was a large part of why West Ham struggled to get forward on the counter. 2015 Getty Images 18/23 Alex Song: 5 His natty boots, emblazoned with the phrase ‘Pow’, must have been distracting him. He rarely broke into so much as an amble except to hack down an opponent. The cultured ball-player of his Arsenal days seems long gone. 2015 Getty Images 19/23 Michail Antonio: 6 The only West Ham player who might emerge with much in the way of credit after a hard-working display in which he always looked to force chances. There’s a chasm between Antonio and the likes of Dimitri Payet in creativity but he at least attempted to bridge that. 20/23 Cheikhou Kouyate: 5 The stats will doubtless show how he covered a great many kilometres but it’s hard to remember a single moment in which he made a notable contribution to the game. 2015 Getty Images 21/23 Mauro Zarate: 5 As is so often the case on his bad days Zarate was guilty of dribbling down blind alleys, presumably in the sincere belief that he would be the one to make the difference. It never did. 2015 Getty Images 22/23 Nikica Jelavic: 5 Left to feed off scraps by his team-mates and yet somehow still managed to look unimpressive despite such limited time in the limelight. An Asda Andy Carroll he was comfortably kept in check by Williams and Fernandez. 2015 Getty Images 23/23 Enner Valencia: 6 An enjoyable cameo from the Ecuadorian, who had West Ham’s first effort of note on 75 minutes. It’s worth noting that after his introduction the visitors actually looked like they might score; in no small part thanks to his direct running and eye for goal. Getty

The West Ham medical staff have been pleased with Payet’s recovery from the injury, and the French international playmaker has an outside chance of returning to the squad for the home match against Liverpool on January 2.