(Reuters) - West Ham United midfielder Carlos Sanchez will have surgery for a knee injury sustained in a League Cup win over Macclesfield Town last month, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Thursday.
Colombian Sanchez, who arrived at West Ham from Italian side Fiorentina in the close season, played only nine minutes before he pulled up injured in the 8-0 victory over the League Two (fourth tier) side.
"Carlos will need to wait a couple of weeks before he has the surgery he needs," Pellegrini told a news conference before Friday's Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Javier Hernandez has resumed training after recovering from glandular fever but the striker is a doubt for Friday's game as he builds up his match fitness.
West Ham have shaken off a poor start to collect seven points from their last three league games to sit 14th in the table. They come into Friday's game high on confidence after beating Manchester United 3-1 last time out.
Pellegrini said West Ham had to continue their resurgence and warned his players of a tough test against Brighton, another team who have beaten United this season.
"Brighton have a strong team and had the same manager for a couple of seasons, so we must be aware of them. We expect always a difficult game against every team, for different reasons," Pellegrini added.
"In the Premier League every game is different. Brighton also beat Manchester United and they are at home so we have to be very clear in the way we approach the game."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Keith Weir)