West Ham keep, drop, start: Kyle Walker-Peters axed, new signing ready for more

Nuno Espirito Santo may need to spruce up his West Ham United starting lineup after the international break.

The Hammers entered the pause winless from their last two games in all competitions.

Nuno must be pleased with the fight his team showed to come from two goals down to get a point in the Dockers' Derby against Millwall, however.

Despite that, it wasn't the three points many expected the Irons to get, and was enough to ensure Swansea City jumped above them to first place.

QPR come to the London Stadium when the Championship resumes for a Friday night game under the lights on 9 October.

Ahead of it, West Ham Zone picks out one Irons starter who should keep their place, one who should be dropped and a fringe player that deserves starting minutes moving forward.

Keep - Max Kilman

Refraining from an obvious choice to keep in the West Ham starting XI such as Jarrod Bowen, Max Kilman has turned his Irons career around this term.

The 29-year-old was one of the leading London Stadium boo boys last season, and looked destined for the scrapheap this summer.

But, he's played all 720 minutes of West Ham's eight league games in 2026-27, and has seldom put a foot wrong.

He and Konstantinos Mavropanos have formed arguably the best centre-back partnership in the division, and he shouldn't be for budging from the side any time soon.

Drop - Kyle Walker-Peters

Kyle Walker-Peters is one of West Ham's crop that many would look at and think he should be a star player in the Championship this season.

Alas, the two-cap England international hasn't been that, rather, the 29-year-old has looked fairly average most weeks.

With Joel Veltman likely to be fit again soon after the break, the ex-Southampton star should be fearing for his starting role.

The fact Nuno hooked him at half-time against Millwall perhaps says a lot about how the Hammers boss currently perceives his standing in the team.

Start - Edvin Austbo

Now, this is one where Nuno will have to earn his money regarding his tactical nous.

Trying to fit Edvin Austbo into this current Irons attack force is tough, but the Norwegian may not be able to be held back much longer.

From just 104 minutes of Championship action he's already grabbed a goal and an assist.

He didn't get much time to impact the game against Millwall, but his 58 minutes against Bolton offered another glimpse at his potential.

Austbo's creative numbers from his time with Viking suggest he could be a natural in the number 10 role too, so this could be a way into the side for him.

However Nuno does it, Austbo has already flashed enough quality in his minimal minutes to suggest he deserves more starting chances after the break.