Moyes: Chicharito is back to training, could play vs Chelsea

West Ham United manager David Moyes indicated Friday that Javier Hernandez was back to training and could be in contention to play against Chelsea on Saturday.

The new Hammers boss was in as optimistic as a mood as any manager in the penultimate spot of the Premier League table in December could be. And a reason for that was the return of the Mexican star to training, along with a host of others.

“Look much better,” Moyes said on the injury front. “We have a whole host of players back training for a few days. Not fully training and I would say in some cases, not fully fit either. But good to get them back.”

Moyes expressed how encouraged he was with how the team played last week in the defeat to league leaders Manchester City, but obviously emphasized that they would need to do more.

“The players have been really good,” he said. “They have tried to take on board everything asked on them. They will have to do the work if they want to play. I like us to be much better when we get the ball as well. But ultimately we will have to stop conceding goals. We done it with a little of a patched up defense last week, so I hope that we get some of the players, and some of the senior players back, that will give us an even better chance.”

When questioned about Mark Noble’s diminished role in the team since his replacement of Slaven Bilic several weeks ago, Moyes stated clearly that the club captain gets no special treatment.

“What we got is a decision to make on who will play. Mark is influential. He is great around the dressing room. He’s great around the club. But he’s not guaranteed, just like there’s no one guaranteed. We have to find a way of winning. I want to give players who are going to help me win. I have to find the players who will help me win. And I’m going to pick who the players are in form. The players who I believe are in form.”

West Ham are in the middle of a murderous schedule, with Antonio Conte’s champions always a stern test in an always fascinating London Derby.

“We can’t set up exactly the same (vs City). But we’ll have to have a performance similar to get us a result. But tactically I think we need to be slightly different to give us a chance. I want to try to cause Chelsea some problems if we can.”

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