West Ham United have suffered another significant injury blow with the news that Craig Bellamy requires surgery and could miss the rest of the season. The Wales forward is to undergo two procedures on a knee and his groin, robbing Alan Curbishley of a formidable presence in attack and undermining further the club’s challenge for European football.

Bellamy has made only seven league starts for West Ham after his £7.5 million transfer from Liverpool in the summer and his possible unavailability for the remainder of the campaign represents another setback for Curbishley. The manager’s stint at Upton Park has been marked by a long series of medical mishaps, leaving him routinely unable to name his first-choice team.

While Curbishley will be heartened by the prospect of Kieron Dyer unexpectedly returning ahead of schedule from the broken leg that he suffered against Bristol Rovers in a Carling Cup tie in August, Bellamy’s absence is a desperate blow. West Ham already have Nigel Quashie, Calum Davenport, James Collins, Scott Parker, Nolberto Solano and Dyer on the treatment table.

Bellamy moved to London in the expectation of playing first-team football more regularly than he did at Anfield, but that has not been fulfilled. The 28-year-old is not a stranger to injury, having suffered from a number of serious knee problems. In 2003, during his ill-fated time at Newcastle United, he travelled to the United States to be operated on by Dr Richard Steadman, a move that he subsequently admitted saved his career. He returned only recently from a long-term absence with an abdominal injury.

Bellamy is expected to have surgery for the first time this week, more than three months after he was first operated on in Germany. Laser surgery appeared to have cleared up his problem, but the forward suffered a recurrence and was out until ten days ago, when he appeared as a substitute against Wigan Athletic. He played in a friendly match two days later, but felt uncomfortable despite scoring.

Better news is that Dyer may now be available for selection. The midfield player has not ruled out some involvement when Newcastle United, his former club, travel to Upton Park at the end of April. In turn, that may give him scope to be selected for England’s close-season friendly internationals.

Curbishley must feel that Upton Park has been the setting for Casualty this season, but very soon West Ham may be screening a television programme on alternative remedies. Fredrik Ljungberg performs yoga before matches to alleviate persistent niggles, Matthew Upson uses torn-up pages from a telephone directory to solve his calf problem and now the England defender is seeing a sports psychologist to clear his head during matches.

Upson felt that psychology was the type of thing that Tiger Woods or Lewis Hamilton employed, but not football players. His preparation now begins two days before a match, when he tunes into thinking only about positive things and runs over the match in his mind.

“That is an important factor for players, to be able to visualise what they are going to do before they do it,” Upson said. “I am mentally preparing myself for the games and knowing that even if some days you go in and you don’t feel great at the start of a game, it is a case of mentally adapting and making sure you put in a good performance. If I start to have a poor spell you can get back on track and turn things around.”

Curbishley has appealed against the red card shown to Lee Bowyer during the 1-1 draw with Birmingham City on Saturday. The midfield player was dismissed for a two-footed challenge on Damien Johnson two minutes from time. The FA will consider the appeal today.

Missing in action

Dec 1998 (Norwich City): Two months out; injures knee.

July 1999 (Norwich): Nine months out; injures knee.

Sep 2000 (Wales): Two-match ban; sent off against Belarus.

Feb 2002 (Newcastle United): Two months out; knee injury, tendinitis.

Aug 2002 (Newcastle): One month out; recovers from knee surgery.

Sep 2002 (Newcastle): Three-match ban; head-butts Dynamo Kiev player.

Oct 2002 (Newcastle): One month out; hamstring injury.

Nov 2002 (Newcastle): Three-match ban; hits Inter Milan player, dismissed.

Oct 2003 (Newcastle): Three months out; knee surgery.

Apr 2004 (Newcastle): One month out; hamstring injury.

Aug 2005 (Blackburn Rovers): One month out; thigh injury.

Dec 2005 (Blackburn): One month out; hamstring injury.

Oct 2006 (Liverpool): One month out; calf injury.

Oct 2007 (West Ham United): Three months out; abdominal injury.