As West Ham United gear up to take on Leeds United at Elland Road this afternoon, it appears manager David Moyes has now been dealt an injury blow to one of his players.

The Lowdown: West Ham aiming high...

It has been a solid start to the new campaign by West Ham overall who only just lost their first Premier League game of the season last weekend at home to Manchester United.

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Suffering just one defeat in five, Moyes has overseen impressive victories against the likes of Newcastle United and Leicester City.

As well as this, West Ham routinely breezed past Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in their opening Europa League group stage encounter recently and also saw off Man United in the Carabao Cup round of 32.

Looking to maintain this impressive run, the last thing Moyes once is the emergence of early injury issues, and it appears he has been dealt one before the Leeds clash today.

The Latest: Fredericks absence emerges...

As confirmed by the Irons boss, it appears West Ham have suffered an injury blow surrounding defender Ryan Fredericks.

The Englishman picked up a knock in midweek during their Carabao cup trip to Old Trafford and took to social media revealing it was a 'small injury'.

While it was unclear whether he could feature in Yorkshire today, Moyes has now confirmed he is unavailable in a blow for West Ham.

"He felt his groin where he had an injury prior to it before," he explained to the press (via football.london).

"So he's being assessed at the moment, he won't be fit for this game, but we're hoping that it's not too serious but we'll know more after the results and tests probably at the start of next week."

The Verdict: Blow for West Ham...

The 28-year-old, while often second fiddle to fan favourite Vladimir Coufal, does have his uses coming off the bench against a tough team like Leeds.

Lauded as someone who can be 'such an extra threat' on top of West Ham's attacking players (Sam Delaney, U Irons Podcast via This is Futbol), having Fredericks as a marauding and pacey overlap option to trouble Marcelo Bielsa's men would have been useful.

Alas, Moyes will have to cope without him as an extra option as the Scotsman aims to keep West Ham's fine form going.

In other news: 'I've heard'...Insider drops 'boardroom level' claim in possible boost for West Ham and Moyes, find out more here.