David Moyes has provided an injury update on his squad ahead of the Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna.
Ryan Fredericks has been ruled out of the Group H match and Vladimir Coufal is a doubt after receiving treatment for a minor groin injury. Despite missing out against Leeds United on Saturday, Arthur Masuaku has no injury concerns and is set to start the match on Thursday evening at left-back, with Ben Johnson likely to feature on the right. Johnson has only seen 91 minutes of action this season after an impressive performance against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup and a cameo off the bench vs Newcastle earlier in the campaign.
David Moyes said “We go into this game I’m sure as favourites, but I give Rapid Vienna respect as we do all clubs. We’ve watched them closely and we’ll give them respect. They have more experience than us in Europe in recent times, so we have to be really careful of that.”
After a busy summer in the transfer market, Moyes admitted that competition for places at West Ham is strong but he is enjoying the headaches that brings.
David Moyes said “We’ve got a squad who have shown exactly what they can do with how well they played in Manchester and in Leeds. We’ve probably used the best part of 20-22 players in the last two games. They all want to play so it’s difficult, but it’s a good position to be in because they’re all in good form and feel well.”
Moyes looks to have a settled Premier League XI but made a number of changes for the Europa League opener against Dinamo Zagreb and wholesale changes for last week’s trip to Old Trafford. The boss is expected to make use of his squad players once more against an out-of-form Rapid Vienna, but the manager was keen to stress he does not underestimate the Austrian side
