West Ham United have confirmed that Dean Ashton could be sidelined until the end of November with the injury he suffered in the 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

Scans have revealed that Ashton, who missed the whole of last season with a knee injury, has a sprained medial knee ligament.

The former Crewe Alexandra and Norwich City forward had been included in Steve McClaren's England squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia but was forced to withdraw on Monday.

Head physiotherapist George Cooper told the Hammers' official website: "We received the results of Dean's scan and they were what we expected which is that he had sprained the upper third of his medial ligament.

"In the majority of cases it will take up to six weeks for full recovery."