Fredericks sends Moyes plea

Ryan Fredericks has sent a plea to manager David Moyes, insisting that he is desperate to play against Lyon in the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday.

The right-back played the full 90 minutes as the Irons beat Everton 2-1 at the London Stadium on Sunday.

That result has moved the Hammers firmly into contention to qualify for Europe through the league this season – the Irons are now sixth – and are also preparing to play Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday.

Fredericks was excellent against Everton, making a sensational tackle to deny Richarlison after he rounded goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, although he was only included in the starting XI because of an injury sustained by Ben Johnson.

Nevertheless, he has now insisted that he is desperate to play against Lyon on Thursday, while insisting that the Irons are not just in the competition to take part.

Speaking to the club’s official website, the defender said: “It’s a massive win. We want to stay in those European positions – we’ve had a taste of it this year and we don’t want that to stop. We want to be a top-six club going forward.

“I’d love to play on Thursday, of course. Those are the kind of games of football you want to play, massive games. It will be absolutely bouncing here and we’re all buzzing for it.

“We’ve tried not to think about it for the last week because today was massive for us, but it’s in the back of the mind a bit that we can’t wait for Thursday and we will be raring to go.

“The manager instilled it in us at the start of the season that we’re not just in Europe to take part, look at the other teams and say ‘wow’. Even if we play a bigger team next or get to the final, we’re not there to look at the other players. We think we’re just as good, if not better, and we’re more than confident that we’re going to win the next couple of games and go through.”