Cup’s just not healthy for us
‘Players at risk of injury’
WEST HAM face FA Cup humiliation next weekend with manager David Moyes prepared to sacrifice progress in the competition in favour of Premier League survival.
The Hammers head to League One promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury in the third round on Sunday for what will be their third match in just six days.
They host fellow strugglers West Brom in the Premier League tonight before a rearranged Wembley trip to London rivals Tottenham on Thursday.
The Spurs clash was originally due to be played on December 30, then moved to New Year’s Eve for TV, only to be rescheduled again due to safety concerns.
That decision has baffled Moyes, who said: “Why was it not played on the Saturday?
“I can imagine the questions when we get to the cup game and me and the players are
SPORT IN BRIEF
going to be coming in with tongues hanging out. I don’t see why it couldn’t be played on Saturday.” Many West Ham supporters were unhappy when former manager Sam Allardyce fielded an understrength side in an FA Cup third-round tie at Nottingham Forest in 2014, which they lost 5-0, in order to concentrate on their relegation battle. Moyes added: “I remember that. But do you not think, with the position we are in now, the focus should only be on our Premier League status? “Because if you’ve not got Premier League status, and then you’re talking about winning the cup, you’ve still got to beat all the teams to get there. “So it’s a difficult one, it’s not an easy one to say what would be the way. “Do I want to win the FA Cup? One hundred per cent. But I don’t think it can be where we can damage our Premier League season.
“And actually we got through to the next round, our next two games are on the Tuesday against Crystal Palace and Brighton Saturday after the round.
“So in a way, to play the FA Cup and then you’ve got a Premier League game on the Tuesday night and a Premier League game the following Saturday, you are saying, ‘Wait a minute here, it’s nearly becoming impossible for us to find the players’.
“If I could win the cup, I would definitely try to win the cup, but I couldn’t do it if I thought it would affect the Premier League.”
Moyes hopes to have captain Mark Noble available to face West Brom after a hamstring injury but winger Michail Antonio could miss out again with a groin problem. if on the fourth we have got two days in Premier League professional football, putting players at risk of injury, it’s not right.” West Ham’s game at Tottenham was originally scheduled for Saturday but moved to Sunday for live coverage on Sky TV. Transport for London then expressed concerns about 85,000 fans travelling to Wembley on New Year’s Eve, so the game was moved to Thursday. The Premier League said fixture scheduling was complex because of factors including police requests, local events and broadcasting. A statement read: “These challenges were highlighted to all of our clubs ahead of the season, and all understood that there could be no perfect solution that would meet all clubs’ individual preferences.”