David Moyes: Europa League players will be involved v Burnley
West Ham United manager David Moyes has suggested that a few of the club’s younger players could be involved against Burnley on Sunday.
The Hammers travel to Turf Moor in the Premier League tomorrow afternoon (12 December), hoping to build on their 3-2 win over Chelsea last weekend (4 December).
Moyes handed six full debuts to graduates from the Hammers’ Academy of Football in the 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League on Thursday, while there were also appearances for a few senior fringe players.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Lancashire, the Scot admitted some of those who played against the Croatian outfit may feature again less than 72 hours later.
“We need to have people involved from last night [Thursday] because of the numbers in the squad,” he said. “A lot of them will certainly be involved. I think in the main we’re okay.
“Like everybody else, behind the scenes, we have a few knocks and niggles. It has been a pretty bruising week or two I feel in the Premier League with the number of injuries coming through the Premier League. We are no different to anyone else, we have to deal with what we have got.”
Academy stars
After Thursday night’s game, we hope it is the academy players who are involved at Turf Moor rather than some of the senior squad’s fringe players.
The likes of Harrison Ashby and Emmanuel Longelo stood out against Dinamo Zagreb and with Moyes currently lacking full-back options, there is a chance either could feature.
Likewise at centre-back, with Kurt Zouma out injured, there may be a place in the matchday squad for Jamal Baptiste or Aji Alese who were impressive in defence on Thursday.
Pablo Fornals was substituted off at halftime in the Europa League, suggesting that he is the most likely player from the starting XI to feature again.
However, players such as Alex Kral and Andriy Yarmolenko were poor and showed nothing to suggest they deserve their chance in the Premier League.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers need to make a decision on a transfer target who could be on the move in January.
Be sure to follow West Ham Zone on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Hammers and more exclusive interviews with Frank McAvennie.