At the risk of sounding like a scratched record, West Ham United’s difficulty breaking down a stubborn Burton Albion defence once again highlighted the squad’s alarming lack of attacking depth.

On 71 minutes, with the Hammers desperately needing a goal, Nuno Espírito Santo withdrew the ineffective Keiber Lamadrid and replaced him with Freddie Potts.

It was a defensive substitution — but what choice did Nuno really have? There simply aren’t any attacking options available.

That, in itself, tells its own story.

Squad Balance Leaves Nuno With No Answers

Not that the West Ham boss is entirely without blame. It was his decision to loan out George Earthy and Callum Marshall — both of whom would arguably have been better attacking replacements on the day.

Meanwhile, Josh Landers and Daniel Cummings don’t yet look ready for first-team football, which raises a serious question: why wasn’t more done to rebalance the squad with genuine attacking reinforcements?

The injury to Pablo has only underlined the issue further.

Now Taty Castellanos, Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen feel so crucial that losing any one of them would be nothing short of catastrophic.

It’s a worrying place to be — especially in a relegation fight...