Manuel Pellegrini has backed talisman Marko Arnautovic to return to the form which saw him finish top of West Ham’s scoring charts last season as he battles a knee injury.

The Austrian is working on a limited training schedule as he looks to work through an issue which has dogged him since the early weeks of the season.

Arnautovic, 29, has four goals so far this term but continues to shoulder the burden when it comes to finding the back of the net in east London which, when playing through pain, is a concern for Pellegrini.

Following two defeats in a row after downing Manchester United at London Stadium last month, Pellegrini is convinced the enigmatic forward will be back to his all-conquering self before long.

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"We are always talking with him and asking him and he can play,” Pellegrini insisted.

“Maybe because he missed the goals the last two games you immediately link it with his knee, but all the players have moments where they cannot score and others where they score more.

“Marko will return to be the striker that he was last season.”

With Pedro Obiang sidelined for the defeat against Tottenham over the weekend, Pellegrini is left with just Mark Noble and Declan Rice as natural central midfielders, with Rice converted from playing centre-back over the summer.

Obiang is not expected to be out for long, but the mounting midfield injuries, with Jack Wilshere and Carlos Sanchez both out, are a concern for the Chilean ahead of a hectic winter schedule.

"Am I concerned? Yes of course, we have four players with long injuries in this moment and everyone knows that December maybe is the worst month of the Premier League,” Pellegrini said.

“We don’t have any options to recover, Pedro Obiang I think will be ready, so we will need to be ready to work with the players that we have in this moment.”

Up next for the Hammers is a trip to Claude Puel’s Leicester before they again welcome Tottenham to Stratford for their League Cup tie on October 31.