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Pundit: West Ham United forced to make changes for Europa Conference League
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
West Ham could be forced to make changes to their team to face Silkeborg in the Europa Conference League due to the injuries problems at the club.
The Hammers made just one change on Monday night in the win over Bournemouth from the loss to Liverpool last week, and now face a clash with Danish side Silkeborg needing just one point to claim top spot in their group.
But with a handful of defensive injuries and such a packed schedule, Frank McAvennie is expecting changes to the starting lineup whether David Moyes was planning to make them or not.
“He’ll rest some people now because there are a few out,” he told West Ham Zone.
“I would imagine that he would rotate yeah. He’s going to be forced to anyway because we’ve had a lot of injuries. So the back five [vs Southampton] was all full-backs.
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“I would imagine, with another couple of days of rest it would get a few people fit. So we’ll see what happens there.”
Craig Dawson, Angelo Ogbonna and Lucas Paqueta all missed the win on Monday, while Michail Antonio made another appearance off the substitutes bench after illness.
With a huge clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, Moyes will want to ensure that as many of his regular first-team stars are well rested and fit for the game as they look to push up the table.
That could mean opportunities for youngsters like Conor Coventry and Harrison Ashby to start, while fringe players like Flynn Downes, Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini and Alphonse Areola are all likely to get substantial playing time too.