05 May 2023 , 21:30
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David Moyes is urging his West Ham stars to “get it done” and secure the win that would guarantee their top-flight status.
And the Scot is confident that the Hammers will not find themselves in a similar position next season because several of their high-profile signings from last summer will have become acclimated to the Premier League.
West Ham, who are four points above the bottom three entering this weekend and have the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar to come next Thursday, face Manchester United at London Stadium tomorrow night before travelling to Brentford and ending the campaign with clashes against fellow strugglers Leeds and Leicester.
Moyes thinks three points are required to ensure safety and would like to have them on the board before those final two fixtures.
“The sooner we get the points required, the better,” he said. “I don't think there's a better formula than just saying the next game is the most important, get it done. We're hoping we will never have a season like this again. We're hoping we can get back away from where we've been.”
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He does not foresee another struggle next season because the likes of Brazil midfielder Lucas Paqueta and Morocco centre half Nayef Aguerd, who was injured for the opening three months of the season, will hit the ground running.
Asked if he has grounds for optimism, Moyes said: “I do, yeah. I think obviously there'll have to be some changes as well but at the moment I would say those players we brought in [last summer], we can say, ‘Come on you've had your opportunity [to settle].’ I don't envisage lots of changes, we probably had more than we wanted last year.”
Erik ten Hag during Man Utd's late defeat to Brighton on Thursday night. (Getty Images)But Moyes admits that committing to those switches has been complicated by the Hammers’ relegation fears. “It stops you from getting plans in place as much as you'd like because we've still got to get that win we're talking about that would make sure we're a Premier League club. It holds you back a little bit from going and getting on with things and making the next part of the decisions which you have to do."
West Ham will be without defenders Kurt Zouma and Vladimir Coufal because of ankle and hamstring injuries but Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek and Aguerd, who missed the midweek defeat away to Manchester City because of a virus, will return.
It was initially thought that the trio had a bout of food poisoning but a couple of other players have been struck down with illness since Wednesday's 3-0 defeat at the Etihad.