West Ham boss Alan Curbishley has decided to switch training to a different pitch in a bid to cure the club's lengthy injury list.

The Hammers squad has been decimated this season, though manager Curbishley has revealed striker Craig Bellamy will not need an operation to cure his stomach strain, while summer signing Julien Faubert is just weeks away from making his competitive debut for the club.

But the first team will now use the Academy's pitches because Curbishley believes the senior training surface could be too hard.

He said: "A lot of the injuries the players have got are old injuries which have returned.

"We don't know whether it is because of the firmness of the pitches here (at the training ground) or in the Premier League. We are going to train on our pitch but also the youth team's pitch."