David Moyes happy to welcome back West Ham duo ahead of Southampton clash

West Ham United via Getty Images

Half of David Moyes’ battle since taking the helm at West Ham has been working with a limited squad.

Whether that be through injury or suspension, the Scotsman has had to work with limited numbers throughout his time in east London, with key figures picking up injuries on an irregularly relevant basis.

The Hammers boss is currently working with those who are left behind at Rush Green during the international break, while preparing for a huge Premier League match with Southampton following the return of the internationals.

One boost ahead of the game, is that Moyes will be able to welcome back two new faces in Arthur Masuaku, who has served a six-match ban for spitting, and midfielder Edimilson Fernandes having recovered from a long term injury.

“We hope [to have a stronger squad for the Southampton game],” Moyes told the club website.

“We’ve not necessarily got loads of players back, but we’ve got Arthur back from a long suspension and Edi Fernandes has been taken away by Switzerland to play, I hope, because he would have got a bit of time [in the friendly] against Dagenham, but we’re not getting a chance to see him [in person].

“Hopefully those two will add to the squad in the coming weeks but, other than that, I think most people are aware that we’ve got some quite long-term injuries.”

Masuaku was given time in the friendly with the Daggers, before heading off for international duty the next day, however given commitments, many others were already away.

However, while Moyes is unable to work with over 20 members of his squad during this break, the former Manchester United manager knows the benefit of having senior internationals within your side.

“I think it’s good [they’ve been called-up],” he added. “I think the more international players you’ve got at your club, it says a lot about your club, even though it gives you a smaller training group.

“We’ve got players away and we’re roughly training with eight or nine now, so we don’t carry a massive squad and having those players taken away from us now leaves us quite light.

“But the more international players you’ve got, the better, and that’s the way I look at it.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in