West Ham's Yarmolenko sidelined around 6 months with Achilles injury

Andriy Yarmolenko has been hit with a huge setback early in his West Ham United career.

The Ukrainian will be unavailable for around six months following a successful surgery Monday to repair a damaged Achilles tendon picked up in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Yarmolenko, 28, scored two Premier League goals before he was withdrawn 40 minutes into his sixth appearance in the English top flight. He was signed for a reported £17.5-million fee from Borussia Dortmund in the summer and was forging a promising on-pitch partnership with talismanic forward Marko Arnautovic in the capital.

Yarmolenko was replaced by academy product Grady Diangana in the weekend loss, and his injury will also provide more first-team opportunities to the likes of Michail Antonio and Robert Snodgrass. Manuel Lanzini is still out of commission with a knee complaint.

Only bottom-placed Newcastle United have lost more times than West Ham this season, but the Irons are positioned 14th after nine matches.