West Ham quartet Mark Noble, Scott Parker, Danny Gabbidon and Herita Ilunga are all struggling with hamstring injuries for the FA Cup third round clash with Premier League rivals Arsenal.
Mexican striker Guillermo Franco is suspended after collecting five bookings while Carlton Cole (knee) and Kieron Dyer (hamstring) are both long-term absentees.
Jonathan Spector is likely to deputise for Ilunga against the Gunners while Junior Stanislas and Luis Jiminez provide Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola with attacking midfield options.
An FA Cup tie against Arsenal may have historical significance, coming 30 years after West Ham beat their north London rivals 1-0 in the 1980 final, but it is not quite the sympathetic draw manager Gianfranco Zola would have liked.
Zola said: "What is most important is we maintain the spirit we have shown recently, that will be the key more than anything else.
"We need to adjust a few things but things are improving and we are going to be much better."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger looks set to rotate his squad.
Captain Cesc Fabregas (hamstring), Denilson (back) and Theo Walcott (side strain) are all sidelined, but Czech winger Tomas Rosicky is in contention and veteran defender Mikael Silvestre and reserve goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski could both also feature.
Midfielders Alex Song will play before jetting off to the African Nations Cup, but Emmanuel Eboue is already away with Ivory Coast.
Nicklas Bendtner (groin), Gael Clichy (back), Kieran Gibbs (foot), Robin van Persie (ankle) and Johan Djourou (knee) remain out.
The Gunners head to West Ham having dragged themselves right back into contention for the Barclays Premier League following five wins from the six games.
Wenger said: "Overall 2009 has been a positive year.
"Let's continue to improve in the new year, and that is normal because we are a young team and should improve.
"This time last year we came out of a difficult period, so I am much more optimistic about the year ahead now than I was this time 12 months ago."
