Ashton out for up to six weeks

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Scans on the damaged knee that forced him out of England's squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia, have confirmed that Ashton has a sprained medial knee ligament.

The club's head physiotherapist George Cooper said: "We received the results of Dean's scan and they were what we expected which is that he had sprained the upper third of his medial ligament. In the majority of cases it will take up to six weeks for full recovery."

The West Ham forward sustained the injury in the later stages of Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa but had been called up for England after scoring three goals in eight appearances.

The injury is a bitter blow for the 23-year-old whose previous call-up to the England squad for an August 2006 friendly against Greece saw him pick up an ankle injury in training.

However, the Hammers have been boosted by news that striker Craig Bellamy began running again last Friday after an operation on a groin injury.

He will join up with the Wales squad ahead of their own qualifiers against Cyprus and San Marino - although he is set to sit out the first fixture.