View: West Ham ace Alex Kral has his chance to shine against FA Cup minnows Kidderminster
It has been far from the dream start to his West Ham career for Czech Republic midfielder Alex Kral but he may get the chance to make an impact in the FA Cup against Kidderminster
The 23-year-old, signed from Spartak Moscow in the summer, has played just one minute of Premier League football for the Hammers this season and his development is taking a hit as a result.
He did play the full game against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup third round but he hasn’t played any further matches in that competition either.
His only regular matches have come in the Europa League group stages where he played three times but it is still far too little football for someone his age.
West Ham manager David Moyes did admit in his recent press conference that Kral has been unfortunate at times to not be playing more often.
“Alex’s been a bit unfortunate not to feature, but he had a period where he missed out a little bit with COVID in a period with more games. I would like to give him an opportunity to see what he can do,” Moyes said, as quoted by The Athletic journalist Roshane Thomas on Twitter.
It sounds then like Kral is going to get a rare opportunity on Saturday (5 February) when the Hammers travel to Aggborough to face National League North side Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup fourth round.
The 29-time Czech international has to take this opportunity with both hands and make sure Moyes knows he cannot keep leaving him in the cold any longer.
It might be unrealistic to suggest that he should be starting over Declan Rice or Tomas Soucek but he could definitely be replacing either of them late on in games to save a little bit of the legs in the senior men.
That slight rotation might just keep Moyes’ star midfield pair fit to take the Irons deep into both domestic and continental competitions this season.
In other West Ham news, this Serie A side want to sign a Hammers regular in the summer, according to reports.