David Moyes gives update on West Ham illness with more drop outs ahead of Man Utd clash

David Moyes had mixed news for West Ham United fans when he addressed the media on Friday ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Manchester United.

The Hammers camp has been hit by a recent bug which prevented Nayef Aguerd, Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice from playing in the midweek loss to Manchester City, while West Ham could only named seven substitutes at the Etihad.

While there’s good news on the trio who missed Wednesday’s match, Moyes revealed on Friday that more players have been struck down by the illness, with the West Ham manager admitting he hopes to ‘contain it’ ahead of Sunday’s encounter against United.

“They [Aguerd, Soucek and Rice] have been in today,” explained the 60-year-old. “Today was the first day we’ve had the chance to assess them. They’ve done a bit of training and we hope they’ll all be available on Sunday.

“One other player was sent home this morning, and another has said they don’t feel so good, so we have to hope we can contain it,” he added. “It looks as though it’s more like sickness and the players are getting over it quickly.

“If you’re fatigued, you’re likely to pick up colds or sickness,” Moyes added, on the Hammers’ recent fixture congestion. “I think Manchester United and ourselves have had the most difficult schedules. We’ve had a real difficult schedule. Would I put that down to getting the illness, I don’t know.”

Moyes also confirmed Kurt Zouma won’t be back for Sunday’s game at the London Stadium: “We’re not going to give a timeline on Kurt because we know he’s a boy who recovers quickly. He’s got an ankle issue.”

West Ham are currently just four points above the relegation zone and are in dire need of a victory ahead of clashes against Leeds United and Leicester City in their last two matches of the season.