West Ham’s medics have been running keen checks on players as they bid to beat a possible bug which may have hit the squad.
The absence of Rice, Soucek and Aguerd from the match at Manchester City with illness has prompted a reaction as the Man United match beckons.
And manager David Moyes told reporters: “We’re just looking to see why we’ve got a bug and bit of sickness . Just sounds as if there is something going around in our camp.”
After Covid he explained that it was tougher to deal with illness now although players have become a lot more cautious.
He said: “They do the simple things like washing their hands all the time. But I generally think there is a bit of a bug everywhere and it has spread but we have no idea. Hopefully we have contained it okay.
Everybody knows themselves, if you’re not feeling well or you’re sick or a bit of flu. Sometimes it is hard enough to get out of bed and we are asking the players to run around hard for 90 minutes and all the prep that goes into it.
When you are unwell it can be difficult but hopefully it is over and done with. There are bits of trails of one or two feeling it but it shouldn’t be too bad.”