CandH exclusive by Hugh Southon
Mark Noble was left on the sidelines as the Hammers played out their final 90 minutes game against Palace on Saturday.
With Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen starting in midfield and with Felipe Anderson also involved it was a surprise even to insiders that the captain was not used.
He is not believed to be injured and it may be that manager David Moyes has now all but decided that the four who started in midfield will be his chosen formation in that area of the park.
Should that be the case and with Angelo Ogbonna yet to play a part in practice games one wonders who will inherit the captain’s armband for the opening game against Wolves at the weekend.
Declan Rice looks the obvious candidate although Tomas Soucek could be in the frame although it may be premature to hand the armband to a loan player.