BLOW FOR ZOLA AS SCAN CONFIRMS BOA MORTE'S INJURY IS SERIOUS.

WEST Ham manager Gianfranco Zola's fears were realised yesterday when scans confirmed Luis Boa Morte has suffered a serious injury to his right knee.

The Portuguese winger was hurt when he caught his studs in the turf following a challenge with Tottenham's Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the Hammers' Barclays Asia Trophy clash in China on Tuesday. Boa Morte was taken to a city centre hospital where tests showed he had damaged his anterior cruciate ligament, which could rule him out for several months.

A statement on West Ham's website, www.whufc.com, said: "West Ham United can confirm that Luis Boa Morte could be out until 2010 after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage in his right knee.

"Boa Morte will undergo further tests to determine whether or not he will require surgery when the swelling on his injured knee goes down."

Following the match, which Spurs won 1-0, Zola had been optimistic the 31-year-old, who featured in more than 30 games last season, would not be facing a long spell on the sidelines.

"It is a big blow for me," said Italian Zola. "He is an important player both on the pitch and off the pitch.

Hopefully it is not too bad, as he is a vital player for us."

Boa Morte was taken off in the 14th minute and West Ham never really got into the game after that as Jermain Defoe's late strike was enough to secure victory for Harry Redknapp's side at Beijing's Workers Stadium.

Meanwhile, a lethargic Hull scraped through to the final with a 5-4 win on penalties against Beijing Guoan.

A sublime strike from Geovanni gave Hull an early lead but from then on it was all Beijing and they deservedly equalised two minutes into the second half through William Paul Modibo.

The Tigers took the game to penalties where, after Caleb Folan had scored to make it 5-4, Zhang Xinxin fired over to send Hull through to Friday's final, where they will play Tottenham. With Hull manager Phil Brown and Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp both in the Chinese capital this week, reports over possible transfer activity between the two have gathered pace.

However, Brown insists it will take a 'ridiculous' bid to prise Michael Turner away from the club, while also confirming he has not made a move for Tottenham's Darren Bent.

The highly-rated defender played in the Tigers' narrow victory over Beijing.

Turner is believed to be interesting Redknapp - who may be willing to consider a player-plus-cash deal for the player - while Bent's move to Sunderland has seemingly stalled amid possible interest from Hull and Aston Villa.

But Brown insists he has received no bids for Turner and confirmed that though he has spoken with Redknapp while in Beijing, no discussions over transfers have taken place. "We did a tremendous piece of business last year signing Michael on a four-year contract," he said.

"As far as I am concerned Michael is at the club as a Hull City player, it would be difficult to hang on to him if a ridiculous bid came in but as we stand no bids are on the table.

"There are a lot mischievous people out there that are trying to create things that are not there."

CAPTION(S):

HAMMERS BLOW Luis Boa Morte is stretchered off the pitch after injuring his knee during the Barclays Asia Trophy pre-season friendly match and, right, Hull City's Geovanni Gomez (10) celebrates with Michael Turner after scoring.