Positive David Moyes was ready to talk up the Hammers survival chances as he addressed a virtual presser at Rush green today.And he was keen to draw attention to Mark Noble’s great achievement in reaching 500 games should he be selected for a game which is as vital as the skipper will have faced in his distinguished Irons career.
Most of us have been in these circumstances before many times of course but the manager was sounding very confident as he went through the pre-match media formalities.
And it’s a certainty that should the skipper get the call = as we would expect in what is likely to be an unchanged team – he will want to ensure that he celebrates his 500th with a vital victory.
He told reporters: “I think we’re in a good place. We’re playing quite well and we’re comfortable with what we’re doing. We know the importance of the game. We know Watford have got lots of strengths and we’ll need to be good on the night to get a result.”
“We’ve been here before, and if we take points similar to last time we were here, I’ll have no doubt we’ll be a Premier League club.
“We’ve got our noses slightly in front, and we have to try and stay out in front. We have to do everything we can to stay in our position.
We’ve not done the job yet – far from it – and the players are aware of that. We have to at least win another game, so the most important thing is to try and win the next game and see where that takes you.”
And discussing Nobes’ likely landmark appearance he added: “To get 500 games for any club, you have to give him great credit. He’s been a one-club man and served the club incredibly well, still leading the group and playing very well.
We’ve had some great players here like that – Billy Bonds and Bobby Moore, Trevor Brooking. To get 500 games is a great achievement.”
We fully expect to see the same Hammers line up as put four past Norwich: Fabianski; Ferdericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek, Fornals, Bowen, Noble, Antonio.
