MX23RW : Wednesday, December 25 13:12:59| >> :120:19004:19004:

David Moyes ready to get "creative" after Rice, Antonio injuries

David Moyes ready to get
© Reuters
The Hammers are fourth in the Premier League.

David Moyes admits he will have to get "creative" in order to keep West Ham's Champions League dream alive.

Injuries have robbed Moyes of two of his key players, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio, for much of the run-in.

Antonio's latest hamstring problem is a particular blow given Moyes declined the chance to sign a back-up striker in January.

But the Hammers boss has not been afraid to experiment this season, with varying degrees of success.

Left-back Aaron Cresswell has thrived as a third centre-half, right-back Ryan Fredericks has played in midfield, Mark Noble was tried as a number 10 and wingers Jarrod Bowen and Andriy Yarmolenko have led the attack.

Now Moyes must come up with a formula to beat Leicester, and move to within a point of the third-placed Foxes, at the London Stadium on Sunday.

"We were always aware that we could run into a situation like this," said Moyes.

"Up until now it has worked very well, we've been in a good position with it. We'll try and keep it going. We will have to look to see how it works.

"There's a lot of talk of playing with false nines nowadays. Manchester City, probably the team who can most afford to do it, chose to play with false nines and it's not done them too much damage.

"We need to be a bit creative. I had a situation at Everton where we didn't have any forwards and we messed around with Tim Cahill as a centre-forward for a while.

"It can happen during a season, you can lose your forwards or defenders but hopefully we'll have enough options to keep everybody guessing about how we're going to play."

The job Moyes has done in guiding West Ham, in danger of relegation last season, into Champions League territory has earned him the nickname 'The Moyesiah' from supporters.

When asked if he had heard about his new moniker, the 57-year-old Scot said: "I thought you were going to say ginger nut! It's certainly not ginger nut now, it's more grey.

"But if there are nicknames going around, I've had a lot of bad ones in my time, so I'm quite happy to take that if that's what I've been given."

ID:442600: cacheID:442600:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3954:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Sasa Kalajdzic celebrates scoring for Stuttgart in February 2021
Read Next:
Borussia Dortmund 'identify Kalajdzic as Haaland replacement'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!