West Ham's American defender Jonathan Spector has been ruled out for up to six months after being diagnosed with a torn labrum.

The player, currently on international duty was handed the bad news earlier this week. It is thought that he will now require surgery that will effectively rule him out for the start of the 2008/09 season after his injury failed to respond to treatment.

The labrum is the common name for the cartilage that lines a hip joint.

Spector will now almost certainly miss playing for the USA in the forthcoming Olympics.