Alou Diarra faces eight months out

West Ham United's Alou Diarra could miss the rest of the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

The 32-year-old suffered the injury during the first half of his team's 2-1 victory over Cheltenham Town in the Capital One Cup, and manager Sam Allardyce has admitted that he could miss the rest of the campaign.

The 58-year-old told reporters: "The injury is more serious than we expected and it is an ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] reconstruction unfortunately.

"That will probably finish his season and that is a big blow to us in squad terms. He was hoping to forge his way into the side this season but, obviously with the injury, now that wont be the case."

The French midfielder also missed a large portion of last season with a hamstring problem.