David Moyes happy to see hard-working Javier Hernandez impress alongside West Ham recruit Joao Mario

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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_31 January 2018

David Moyes has praised Javier Hernandez for his battling performance in West Ham’s draw with Crystal Palace.

As the only remaining fit striker, the burden is on Chicharito to play a role with which he is not accustomed.

The former Manchester United man, who has been frustrated by a lack of game time in east London this season, is well known and revered as a poacher in the box, at his happiest with plenty of crosses and second balls in and around the goalmouth.

However, with West Ham’s style this season not quite the right fit, the Mexican has struggled since his move from Bayer Leverkusen.

On Tuesday night, though, with new signing Joao Mario working tirelessly to form a link between midfield and Hernandez, the 29-year-old put in an encouraging, hardworking performance.

“I thought Chicharito did better tonight, I thought he gave us something a little bit more tonight," Moyes told reporters.

“Maybe he should have scored the header in the second half but he gets in the right positions, earns us a penalty, gets in the right positions and I thought Joao Mario in his own way - he's not [Manuel] Lanzini, they’re different players - but I think as well, he gave us smoothness at the right times as well.”

Mario, who arrived on loan from Inter Milan last week, played the full 90 minutes against the Eagles due to Moyes’ lack of options from the bench, which included five players aged 21-and-under.

And the Hammers manager was further encouraged by the Portuguese’s showing, given it was his first Premier League outing.

“I think for someone to come in and go straight into a Premier League side, we didn’t really have enough to say ‘you’re only going to play 60 minutes’ but he didn’t look as if he needed it, he looked as if he had a diesel engine, he looked as if he could get up and down and cover the ground easily,” Moyes added.

“He played like a really good footballer tonight and helped make the goal, I thought it was a really good debut for someone who’s come from Portugal, Italy. I thought he played really well tonight.”

Mario himself acknowledged the difficulty of the Premier League, but said his West Ham teammates eased the burden.

“The team helped me a lot. The Premier League is really difficult,” he told Sky Sports.

"It's my first game and I feel great. I need to work hard to help my team."

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