Whoever said that a week in football is a long time wasn’t joking, judging by what has happened to us here at West Ham over the past few days.

Not long ago, I said in this column that the one area of our team where we were adequately covered was up front. That was then but right now, following more injuries, we’re looking at just one fit senior striker in Chicharito.

We continue to work hard in an effort to strengthen the squad in the next few days and I’m hoping that Joao Mario’s loan move from Inter Milan will have been confirmed on Friday.

I don’t want to say too much until it is done but I was at the Euro 2016 Final when Portugal played France, so I had an opportunity to watch Joao there. He can play in a number of roles. There’s a little bit of Manuel Lanzini about his play. He could play off the left or right and even as a No10 if needed.

I hope he will be a player who will create and score a few goals for us. Even before Manu’s injury we were looking to add some creativity but now the need for that type of player is even more acute. At the start of the window the move didn’t look like it would happen but as the days have gone on it became more likely.

The hardest thing about bringing players over from other countries is them having to adapt to the tempo of the game here. That would be my biggest concern, not his ability, but I would hope that if the deal is finalised he can adapt quickly because we need him to hit the ground running. We will need to ask for some patience in getting him settled but our situation means we will need to get him involved quite quickly.

There’s been a lot of talk about our players wanting to go in this transfer window but we’re not in a position to let anyone depart. That can change but that’s my plan because we don’t have the numbers.

This time last week I would have perhaps had a different view but the injuries to Manu and Marko Arnautovic have changed things. Manu has a tear in his hamstring and he looks the more serious of the two. Marko, who finished our game against Bournemouth, is not quite so bad but he has also been scanned and there is some damage there.

If we’re talking recovery time, Manu would be longer — maybe four to six weeks — and that is very disappointing because he’s been playing so well for us. Marko should be back sooner but it is still a worry because he is a player who uses that explosive power in sprinting.

I would say that Manu’s injury came as a result of a bit of fatigue. It was a bit of a surprise because he hadn’t given us the impression of a player who was susceptible to that kind of injury but I do think it was as a result of the number of games we’ve had to go through.

I have no regret in playing him, though, for 120 minutes in the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury. I wanted to win the tie and, although it was always going to be a struggle with the squad we had available, I felt Manu was the right one to play. We needed someone who could make a difference.

There is some good news, though. Michail Antonio has done some training this week and we’re hoping he might not be too far away from a return, while Jose Fonte is also back in training. He has been out for 12 weeks, however, so he may need a couple of practice matches before he is ready.

Andre Ayew has had a hamstring problem but has done some running this week and we need to nudge him along a bit. Cheikhou Kouyate has had a problem with his ankle, while Mark Noble has been suffering from a bruised foot.

If we had picked up this magnitude of injuries in February, then we would have had to soldier on with what we’ve got, but because they occurred this month they have changed our thinking about how many players we will try to get into the club in the next few days.

It’s not easy, though, and I’m not 100 per cent confident we can get too many in. I’ve been looking but historically this is not a good month in which to sign players. I feel our best bet is to target players who are experienced in the Premier League and that’s not so easy.

If things had been different, I would have recalled Robert Snodgrass from his loan at Aston Villa and we would have done it by now but it’s not possible.

As for tomorrow’s FA Cup tie at Wigan, I am not one for making a host of changes and if I had a full squad, I would definitely play my strongest team.

At the moment, though, we’re choosing from 12 or so senior players for every game, so some of the youngsters will definitely be involved tomorrow.

I would like to go through in the Cup but I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t have one eye on next Tuesday’s game against Crystal Palace.

The fee for this column will be donated to Holocaust Memorial Day hmd.org.uk