It felt emblematic of the frustration at West Ham United that on the day Manuel Pellegrini came out fighting, it was confirmed one of his key signings, midfielder Jack Wilshere, was out injured.

Not just that but there was uncertainty as to how long Wilshere would be absent after having felt discomfort in his ankle during training – and ankle injuries are always a concern for the 26-year-old given his chronic injury record. “It could be one week, it could be three months,” said one exasperated senior source at the club, with an assessment due on Tuesday.

By then West Ham, who are away at Everton on Sunday, may well have suffered a fifth successive Premier League defeat. That would represent the worst start to a season in the club’s 123-year history and would come on the back of a remarkable £100 million being spent in the summer on nine new signings under Pellegrini, who is also West Ham’s highest-paid manager, on a basic salary of £15m over three years.

Wilshere arrived as a free signing, after the end of his Arsenal contract, but it was at Pellegrini’s insistence that he was given a three-year deal by West Ham – who had their misgivings because of his previous injuries – and had initially proposed only a 12-month agreement. That was a sign of the desire to back Pellegrini – and the signings are his – and the line from inside West Ham, despite their shocking start to the season, is that the club remain fully behind the 64-year-old Chilean and believe he will turn things around. But they have to believe.