West Ham have been dealt a massive injury blow in defence.

Summer signing Fabian Balbuena has been ruled out for eight weeks after knee surgery.

West Ham have also confirmed the injury layoff on their official website.

The South American has been in good form since joining the Hammers and it will be interesting to see how Manuel Pellegrini copes in his absence.

Balbuena and Diop have been the best defenders at the club this season and the Paraguayan’s injury will weaken West Ham’s defence.

The 27-year-old hurt himself during the home loss to Watford before Christmas and he has been sidelined ever since.

Pellegrini might decide to dip into the transfer market to shore up his defence or he could give Reece Oxford a chance to prove his worth.

The next few weeks should be quite interesting in that regard.

The fans have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts on the injury blow and here are some of the reactions from earlier.

That’s dreadful news as Ogbonna is pretty bad at defending

— Richard Knott (@RichardKnott2) January 9, 2019

Absolutely terrible news.

— Ben Smith (@bensmith_95) January 9, 2019

Bad news, the way Ogbonna has been defending since coming back in.

— Neil Martin (@nmengland) January 9, 2019

Balbuena out for 6 to 8 weeks!

Shit!

What is it with injuries and West Ham!

Still, i hear ol glass legs Jack Wheelchair is back in training!

Happy Days!

— ⚒Rod⚒ (@bubblemaster3) January 11, 2019

That’s not good, he and diop are our best partnership by a mile

— luke (@westhammers78) January 11, 2019