West Ham United star Vladimir Coufal could be on the sidelines for 'months' and undergo surgery after sustaining a heel problem, injury expert Ben Dinnery has told GIVEMESPORT.

Hammers boss David Moyes will be unable to call upon the right-back in a crucial period of the season as he has headed onto the treatment table.

West Ham injury news - Vladimir Coufal

Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of West Ham's Europa Conference League trip to AEK Larnaca, Moyes revealed Coufal has been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his heel.

It resulted in the £52,000-per-week star being unable to board the Hammers' flight to Cyprus, although Moyes stopped short of putting a timescale on how long it will be before he is back in contention.

Coufal's time on the sidelines will come as a major blow to West Ham as he has been a key man since completing a move worth £5million, according to Sky Sports, from Slavia Prague.

Injury news journalist Dinnery recently told GIVEMESPORT that he feared the full-back had suffered a serious problem when he was forced off midway through the east Londoners' 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest last month.

Moyes conceded that Coufal had been playing through the pain barrier and his heel issue was worse than first feared.

What has Ben Dinnery said about Coufal?

Dinnery believes there is a possibility that Coufal could be a long-term absentee after his heel problem was confirmed as plantar fasciitis.

The injury expert has warned that the West Ham man could be forced to go under the knife if he does not respond well to conservative treatment.

Dinnery told GIVEMESPORT: "With plantar fasciitis, it is really difficult to put any kind of definitive timeline on it. Potentially, he could be looking at anything from weeks to months.

"It's a loading issue, so you have to ease back and have conservative treatment in the first instance. If he doesn't respond, although most do and I think over 80 per cent would respond favourably, he would even have to go down the surgery route."

Does Coufal's injury come as a major blow to West Ham?

Despite West Ham's Premier League struggles this season, Sofascore statistics show that Coufal has still been averaging 2.0 tackles, 1.8 clearances and 1.4 interceptions per outing.

The 30-year-old has made 26 appearances in all competitions since the campaign got underway and was handed nine consecutive starts in the top flight prior to being forced off against Nottingham Forest.

There is no doubt that Coufal was missed during West Ham's 4-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend as Ben Johnson, who slotted into his right-back berth, lost possession 13 times despite only having 60 touches of the ball.

WhoScored have handed the Czech a 6.53 average match rating for his Premier League performances this term, which may not be as high as he would like, but his work rate and commitment cannot be faulted.

Coufal, who has racked up 12 assists in 96 West Ham outings, will be sorely missed by Moyes in the bid for Premier League survival.