West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has conceded that Dimitri Payet is "irreplaceable" for his team.
The France international has been ruled out of action for three months with an ankle injury sustained in his side's draw against Everton after impressing since his £12m move to the club in the summer.
Bilic has admitted that the Hammers cannot replace Payet with one player, but he has called on the rest of his squad to rise to the challenge of filling in for the winger in his absence.
He told reporters: "Well, you don't have to be the West Ham manager to know he is very important for us. On the one hand, West Ham is not only Dimitri Payet, but he is our best player and the most important player for us, especially when we have the ball.
"We are going to miss him, but we are not going to play with ten players. To be honest, it is difficult to replace him because he is irreplaceable. That's why he is Payet. He is one of those players who makes the team better.
"We are going to see how we're going to look without him. It's a question mark for me as well. On the other hand, we are not only Payet. We now have a lot of quality players and those who play will have to share that burden, step up and do more for us to ensure we feel his absence less."
Payet has scored five goals in 12 appearances for the Hammers this season.
