Moyes explains squad sickness

David Moyes has now spoken about the illness issue that left him without Rice, Soucek and Aguerd for the mid-week defeat  against Manchester City

The three were absent from the encounter at the Etihad Stadium due to a stomach bug.

Moyes suggested that it was a suspected outbreak of food poisoning, picked up at Rush Green or at the team hotel, prior to the midweek fixture.

Our Supremo explained how his side’s plans were side tracked on matchday,

“I knew in the morning there had been sickness and one of them had a real high temperature,” he said.

“One of them had to go away at 11am and the other two left at 2pm, once they weren’t going to get any better.

“We had given them a chance in the morning to recover, sleep longer, see how they were. They were in Manchester with the rest of the team so we had to send them away in cars later this afternoon to go home.

“We are not sure if it is maybe a bit of food poisoning that they have maybe picked up at the training ground or whether it was at the hotel.”

The unlucky trio of Rice, Soucek, and Aguerd are very likely to return for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday, followed by AZ Alkmaar next Thursday, where they will definitely be needed.

With a relegation battle as close as this, the Hammer’s recent form makes for wretched reading, with three defeats in their last three games.

They currently sit 15th; four points clear of Nottingham Forest in 18th and have crunch games against Leeds and Leicester to come. However, their determined first-half showing against the champions should provide confidence going forward, especially considering the absence of those three ill players.

With a return to full health, West Ham should feel that with similar performances they can pick up the necessary points to secure their survival. Other teams around them arguably face tougher ties – those which read challenging on paper or momentous six-pointer clashes.

Consequently, West Ham should find themselves in the fortunate position of there being three teams in the league worse than themselves. Though how fortunate it can feel to be in one of the closest relegation scraps in years remains to be seen…