Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that Fabian Balbuena’s absence from the Hammers defence is down to his own error  of judgement.

And with the central defensive partnership of Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna performing well the Paraguay international may be spending an extended period on the bench.

At one stage Balbuena was seen as a possible skipper in Mark Noble’s injuries at the start of the season or other absences at some stage but he has not been used since the opening day defeat by Manchester City.

And with Ogbonna seizing his opportunity to show some of his best form, ‘The General’ is one of those discovering how hard it is to force his way back into one of the strongest squads assembled at the club in years

Pellegrini noted that Balbuena didn’t have much of a pre-seasonafter being a late arrival from Copa America, and claims he put him back on the team too quickly.

He said: “The reason was that Fabian Balbuena couldn’t work too much in the pre-season. He arrived from his national squad late and he played just one [full] game.

 “That was my mistake to play with him in the first game because I trusted too much in what he can do, but it was too soon for him. Now he is trying to return to his normal performance, working hard.”

“Angelo worked with Diop the complete pre-season and now they are the two centre-backs who must play,” he added.