David Moyes admits he made a late decision over Jarrod Bowen’s availability ahead of his match-winning performance against Everton on Sunday.
The winger returned from injury against the Toffees, having been absent since the clash with Liverpool on March 5th.
Bowen came in to play from the start and added to his exceptional season with the second goal in the 2-1 win, pouncing after Mikey Antonio’s shot was parried by Jordan Pickford and putting it in the back of the net.
Before that, Aaron Cresswell had scored a wonderful free-kick, only to see that cancelled out by Mason Holgate’s deflected strike.
Moyes was asked after the game when he decided to pick Bowen in the starting XI and he claims that the final call was made on Saturday, when it became clear that Manuel Lanzini would not be ready to play.
Speaking after the victory, the Hammers boss said, as per the London Evening Standard: “It was only until yesterday when I knew Lanzini wasn’t going to make it.
“I thought with [not having] Lanzini’s quality on the ball do we start Jarrod for 50-60 minutes or bring him on for 30?
“I don’t think he’s quite all there yet. It is not his fitness, just his game, and he was a bit worried about it.
“We chose to start him and it worked out well thank you.”